Distressing footage has caught a police van in Manila, Philippines, running down anti-US protesters on Wednesday local time.

Student protesters had gathered around the US Embassy in the Filipino capital and reportedly began hitting police cars with wooden batons.

But footage shows one police van erratically driving through the crowd – running down a number of youths.

One woman in particular appears to be run over twice by the van, before it departs the scene.

WARNING: Graphic footage

In a comment sent by text message to local newspaper Inquirer.net, Chief Superintendent Oscar Albayalde said the policeman driving the car was simply defending himself.

“They weren’t run over,” he said.

“The rallyists were trying to flip over the patrol car.”

“In the process, the driver extricated the patrol car and inadvertently hit some unruly protesters who sustained minor injuries.”

Protesters, meanwhile, have claimed the demonstration was about to end and had been peaceful.

The students had been protesting against the presence of US troops in the Filipino island of Mindanao.

According to the news site, 50 protesters were injured in the fracas, while a further 21 were arrested.