Baby killed as car hits Rio beach footpath

A speeding car has ploughed through evening revellers on a crowded footpath along Rio's famed Copacabana beach in an apparent accident, killing an eight-month old baby and injuring 15 people.

Injured pedestrians lay sprawled out on the footpath, but there was no indication that the Copacabana incident was deliberate.

The G1 news website reported the driver, who fled the scene but was quickly arrested by police, said he had an epileptic fit, and medicine for epilepsy was found in the car.

An officer at the Copacabana police station confirmed the baby's death by telephone and said 15 injured people were being treated in hospital.

Witnesses said on the Globo News network that the car shot over a bicycle path and across the footpath, hitting people and crashing through tables and chairs, before coming to a stop on the sand of the beach.

The smashed windscreen and dented roof indicated the force with which the vehicle had hit people.

The footpath of the Copacabana crescent-shaped beach is a favourite summer evening walk for Rio residents and tourists that have begun to arrive in Rio ahead of Carnival celebrations next month.