Authorities are looking into an accident in which a police car hit a girl moments after she was injured in a hit-and-run incident in Central China's Henan province.

The 11-year-old girl was knocked down by a black car as she crossed the road in downtown Yichuan at about 10:30 pm on Tuesday, Dahe Daily reported.

The driver left the scene, leaving the girl lying in the road. Then, about a minute later, she was run over by a police car, causing injuries to her back, waist and legs, the report said.

Eyewitnesses stopped the driver of the police car when he also attempted to leave the scene.

The girl's father, who runs a bun store close to the scene of the accident, described to Dahe Daily the scene when he found his daughter.

"She was surrounded by lots of people in the middle of the road," the 38-year-old father was quoted as saying.

The victim was sent to a nearby hospital for treatment, where doctors said she has a slim chance of survival. She was later transferred to a clinic in Luoyang .

Wang Diwei, director of Yichuan public security bureau, said police have detained the driver of the black car, while the driver of the police car is under investigation.

Both drivers have had blood tests and neither was found to be over the legal alcohol limit, police said, adding that the cause of the accident is being probed by a third-party agency.

Doctors treating the girl have been ordered to save her "at all costs", while negations over compensation are under way, Wang said.