Eight people, including several children, were killed when a kindergarten director lost control of an SUV and plunged into a pond in southeast China, state media reported on Wednesday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon in Pengze county, a rural area in Jiangxi province 480 kilometres west of Shanghai dotted with small bodies of water and interlacing streams.

The crash took place on the downhill section of a road likely made slippery by recent rainfall, according to New Security, a publication under the state-run People's Daily Press.

The seven-seater SUV was typically used to transport children attending a private kindergarten in the area, the report said.

A previous statement published overnight by county security authorities confirmed that eight people had died, including the driver, identified as a 49-year-old woman surnamed Luo.

The statement gave no information on the other victims but said an investigation was ongoing.

One local villager said that his friend's four-year-old child was among the victims, according to the New Security report. (AFP)