Polish officials have said 12 people were injured after a car drove through the centre of a western border city, with the driver having managed to briefly evade police.

Local media in the northwestern city of Szczecin, the capital of the Zachodniopomorskie województwo province, have cited emergency officials stating officials scrambled to the scene and rushed the injured to hospital.

News organisations said a rescue operation is currently underway at Rodla Square, with children reportedly among those injured.

Remiza.pl, a Poland-based firefighting website, added that the driver had initially attempted to flee the scene in his car.

The site said that, following the incident, he “collided head-on with another vehicle”, and was later reportedly detained by a member of the public.