Five people have been injured, one critically, after a car mounted the footpath by the University of Auckland.

Witnesses to the crash, which was reported just after midday (10am AEST), said the car was travelling down Symonds Street when the driver hit the curb, hitting two people and forcing students to leap out of the way.

Police said drugs or alcohol might have been a factor in the crash.

One person was transported to hospital in a critical condition and four others suffered moderate to minor injuries, police said. Another patient, in a minor condition, was treated at the scene.

Students and witnesses to the crash, Luka and Mateen, said the car was travelling down Symonds St, outside the university, when the driver lost control.

“[The driver] then hit the curb, came off the road and hit the tree,” Mateen said.

Luka said around 15 students had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

Stephen Dimapilis, another student who witnessed the crash, told RNZ he saw the car “swerving” before it flew onto the pavement.

“I see a car coming out of control, and then he crashed into two people and one person was under the car, and the other person – I saw him literally flying. So I was just speechless, I didn’t know what to think of.”

Dimapilis said the car appeared to be driving above the road’s 40kph speed limit.

Symonds Street was closed from Wellesley St to Grafton Rd while police worked at thescene.

At 2.29pm (12.29pm AEST), Auckland Transport issued an alert to passengers saying services were returning to normal after earlier disruption.

“An earlier emergency services incident, that occurred on Symonds St, Auckland CBD, between Grafton Rd and Wellesley St East has now been resolved and services are returning to normal,” AT said.