People from the Gelderland village of Nunspeet have reacted with shock after a car drove into a crowd waiting for a Christmas parade on Monday evening, injuring nine people, three of them seriously.

Mayor Céline Blom said the impact on the village was profound and that many people witnessed the incident first-hand. Many of the witnesses and victims knew each other, she told the AD.

The accident happened when a 56-year-old local woman drove into a group of people waiting at a roundabout for the parade of lorries decorated with Christmas lights. The driver, whose silver grey car was photographed abandoned in the grass verge, was also slightly injured.

The emergency services were deployed in large numbers.  Police have said there is no indication the incident was deliberate but the exact circumstances are still being investigated.

Blom told news agency ANP that the crash was most likely a tragic accident and that the driver may have become unwell. She is in hospital and the police have been unable to question her so far.

Police said many people, including parents with young children, were waiting along the route at the time. “It is clear that this shocking event was seen live by a large number of people,” a police spokesperson said.

Broadcaster Omroep Gelderland spoke to a man who was there with his wife and three young children. “You saw people being thrown in the air. It happened so fast,” he said.

A woman who cycled past with her young daughter shortly after the crash told De Gelderlander newspaper the scene felt “unreal”. She said she later stayed at home “praying for the people who went through this. My legs just kept shaking.”