An emergency official says about 50 to 60 people were injured after car drove into a group of hikers at a parade in a small Virginia town.

Washington County director of emergency management Pokey Harris said Saturday that no fatalities have been reported.

The injuries ranged from critical to superficial. Three of the victims were flown by helicopter to regional hospitals. Another 12 to 15 were taken by ambulance. The rest were treated at the scene in Damascus, about a half-hour east of Bristol.

The status of the driver wasn't released. Multiple witnesses described him as an elderly man.

Authorities are still investigating, but Harris says they believe the man might have suffered a medical emergency before the accident.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Witnesses said a man drove a car into a crowd at a parade in a small southwestern Virginia mountain town Saturday and hurt several people, but the nature of their injuries wasn't immediately known.

It happened around 2:30 p.m. during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol.

A call to Damascus police was handled by the Washington County Sheriff's Office. A sheriff's dispatcher said she had no immediate information. State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller says troopers have been sent to the scene but she had no further information. She said Damascus police were handling the release of information.

Four helicopters arrived to airlift victims to area hospitals. An emergency room worker at Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon said she didn't have any information before hanging up.

What caused the car to drive into the crowd wasn't immediately known. It appeared to come from a side street, and a thud could be heard. People yelled stop, and at some point, the car finally stopped.

Witnesses said the car had a handicapped parking sticker and it went more than 100 feet before coming to a stop.

"He was hitting hikers," said Vickie Harmon, a witness from Damascus. "I saw hikers just go everywhere."

Damascus resident Amanda Puckett, who was watching the parade with her children, ran to the car, where she and others lifted the car off those pinned underneath.

"Everybody just threw our hands up on the car and we just lifted the car up," she said.

There were ambulances in the parade ahead of the hikers and paramedics on board immediately responded to the crash.