Toddlers killed in truck attack

The attack was caught on amateur video

Two toddlers have been killed by a driver who ploughed his pick-up truck into a 100-strong crowd of children and teachers outside a school near Mexico City.

Jose Luis Nieto, a 56-year-old mechanic who had complained that the school's regular flag ceremony blocked access to his house, told local media he "went for the director of the school".

The car ran us over

School pupil Dalia Salas

The attack was caught on amateur video.

In the footage, a man - who appeared to be Mr Nieto - reversed the truck a few metres before slamming into the backs of several children and adults as they saluted the Mexican flag.

Some of the victims were dragged along the street.

Several adults and about 20 other children, including a four-month-old baby, were injured, some severely, police said.

The dead children were reported to have been aged two and three.

'In shock'

Local television reports showed traumatised parents clutching injured children in front of the school, in Ecatepec near the Mexican capital.

Local television showed traumatised parents clutching injured children

"The car ran us over," said student Dalia Salas, her collar bloodstained and her arm badly scraped.

"I will never forget it. I'm in shock now," mother Juana Cruz told the Spanish-language network Univision after finding her daughter, who was slightly hurt in the incident.

Mr Nieto, who has been arrested, had sought to ban the flag ceremony, a local official said.

"They wouldn't give me access to my house, to come and go," he said in a television interview.

"This was every day - every day until today this happened."

Several parents said a judge's order had granted the school permission to hold a regular ceremony in the street outside the school.