Three toddlers were killed after an alleged drunk driver crashed his car into them in George, said Western Cape police on Sunday.

Captain Malcolm Pojie said a 46-year-old man lost control of a vehicle, which apparently didn't belong to him, on a curve along Ngcacani Street in Phelendaba at 3pm on Saturday.

"The vehicle collided with a lamp pole on the side of the road, then hit the three toddlers that had been playing on the sidewalk," said Pojie.

Three siblings — five-year-old Mihle Yawani and twins Sankelo Yawani and Nasiphe Yawani, both aged six — died on the scene. Police arrested the man on the spot.

He was expected to appear in the Thembalethu Magistrate's Court on Monday to face charges of culpable homicide, drunk driving and using a vehicle without the owner's consent.

Sapa