At least one person has died and six others injured after a car plowed into a crowd of teenagers on a sidewalk in south London.

Police said Sunday that a manhunt was underway for the driver of a red convertible Audi, who fled the scene of the crash that killed a 16-year-old girl in Croydon at around 1:30 am local time.

Three of the six teenagers hit by the car had serious injuries, according to a spokeswoman for the London ambulance service.

The Scotland Yard said it did not believe that the incident was a deliberate attack but still asked people information to come forward.

Detective Sergeant Jose Qureshi appealed directly to the driver of the vehicle and asked him to turn himself in.

Police kept the area at the Pixton Way cordoned off before leaving the scene at around noon. The car also hit a number of cars parked along the way.
The tire marks of a car that ran over seven teenagers in south London, July 1, 2017. (Photo from social media)

Incidents of this type have seen a rise across the UK in recent months.

Less than a week ago in New Castle, a car mowed down a large crowd of people marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Six people were injured as a result.

Police said they could not find any traces of a possible attack in that incident either.

This while in mid-June a driver ran over a group of Muslim worshipers outside a mosque in the Finsbury Park area of north London, killing one person and injuring 10 others.

Before being apprehended by police, the driver, Darren Osborne, was heard shouting, I want to kill Muslims.

A few days later, police charged Osborne with terrorism-related murder and attempted murder.

In early June terrorists drove a white van into the crowd on London bridge and then started stabbing people in the area before being gunned down by police. That attack left 10 dead and 48 more injured.

In March, terrorists used the same method to run over pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge, killing four of them.