Watch Brazilian driver mow down crowd of protesters leaving several injured

Sickening footage of a Brazilian motorist driving through a crowd of protesters – leaving several with serious injuries –has surfaced online.

The 1.17-minute clip captures an incident that took place on 28 April in Sao Jose dos Campos, a city in the state of Sao Paulo.

The crowd of around 30 protesters blocked the highway at around 1pm to demonstrate against labour and welfare reforms, according to Brazilian site Globo.com.

Footage, captured by a Brazilian news crew, shows a dark coloured car trying to gently push its way through the protesters, who refuse to let it pass.

Eventually, with the driver appearing to lose patience, the car accelerates through the crowd and down the highway, leaving multiple twisted bodies on in its wake.

Fellow protesters then rush to the aid of the injured, who were reported to include two women, 19 and 25. The driver has been caught and arrested for attempted murder.

There have been waves of protest against the attempted reforms of Brazilian President Michel Temer since he came to office in August 2016.

The centre-rightist has vowed to overhaul the Brazilian pensoins system, reduce welafare, deregulate the labour market and curb public spending.

In September of last year, 50,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Sao Paulo, angered by the impeachment of Temer's predecessor Dilma Rousseff for corruption. They argue that the legal proceedings are politically motivated.

The video has been misleadingly shared on social media with suggestions that it was filmed in the US and that the crowds were protesting against President Donald Trump.