US driver ploughed car into crowd of people 'because they looked Muslim'

A California man who deliberately drove into a crowd of people, injuring eight, did so because he thought they were Muslim, police said on Friday.

The driver, 34-year-old Isaiah Peoples, reportedly targeted the family solely on their appearance, according to police in Sunnyvale, near San Francisco, who are now treating the case as a "hate crime".

"There is new evidence that Peoples intentionally targeted victims based on their race and belief that they were Muslim," said Sunnyvale Public Security in a statement.

According to local media, three members of the same family are among the eight pedestrians injured Tuesday - a father and his son and daughter.

The nationality and religion of the family have not been released.

A lawyer for Peoples said the incident "was clearly the result of a mental disorder", and he would seek psychiatric treatment for his client - who he described as a military veteran possibly suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Earlier this month UN chief Antonio Guterres warned against growing hatred of Muslims, less than a month after a deadly attack on mosques in New Zealand.

More than 50 Muslim worshippers were massacred by a self-avowed white supremacist as they were taking part in weekly Friday prayers at two separate mosques in Christchurch.

"Around the world, we are seeing ever-rising anti-Muslim hatred, anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia," the UN secretary general said.