An eight-year-old girl was killed and at least five people injured when a driver rammed his car into a pizza restaurant in a small town east of Paris, French police say.

An official with the national gendarme service said the driver was arrested soon after the incident in the town of Sept-Sorts.

The official said it is unclear whether the act was deliberate.

An Algerian man drove his car into a group of French soldiers last week, and a truck attack in the French city of Nice left 86 people dead a little more than a year ago.

Several other countries have seen cars used as weapons in recent years.