Six people including a pregnant woman have died after a rally car hurtled off a road and ploughed into a crowd of spectators in northern Spain.

Reports say the car crashed off a tree-lined road in a cloud of dust in the north-western town of Carral during the A Coruna Rally.

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“One of the cars in the rally left the road and ran down various spectators” as it sped around a bend about 8pm (local time), a spokesman for the Civil Guard police force said.

“We have confirmed that six people died — four women and two men. One of them was a pregnant woman,” said the spokesman, who asked not to be named.

He said about 20 people were hurt and several were taken to hospital, at least two of whom were “very seriously” injured.

Crowds scatter as the rally car loses control.

The spokesman said authorities were investigating the crash.

The rally cars “go too fast for that kind of road. They are normal roads and people stand on the edge of the bend” to get a better view, he said.

Spanish media reported the car was a compact Peugeot 206 XS and that children were among the injured. The drivers were not reported to have been hurt.

Spain’s state Higher Sports Council said in a Twitter message that it “deeply regrets the accident in the A Coruna Rally. Our condolences to the families and friends of the deceased”.

The event around the city of A Coruna in the Galicia region is a relatively minor race, not part of the World Rally Championship.

In March a co-driver was killed in the Mallorca Classic Rally after reportedly crashing into a tree on the Spanish island.