A man is facing a murder charge after a car ploughed into a crowd of people protesting against a white supremacist rally in Virginia, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring more than a dozen others, on a day full of violent confrontations.

Shortly after the incident, a Virginia State Police helicopter above the rally crashed outside Charlottesville, killing the pilot and a trooper.

The chaos boiled over at what is believed to be the largest group of white nationalists to come together in a decade, protesting against plans to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee.

That gathering sparked a counter-demonstration by others protesting against racism.

Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe declared an emergency and police in riot gear moved people away.

Matt Korbon, 22, a University of Virginia student, said several hundred counter-protesters were marching when “suddenly there was just this tyre screeching sound”.

A silver Dodge Challenger smashed into another car, then reversed, barrelling through “a sea of people”.

The impact hurled people into the air and those left standing scattered, screaming and running for safety.

The driver was later identified by police as James Fields, 20, of Ohio.

He has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count related to leaving the scene. A bail hearing will take place on Monday.

US president Donald Trump condemned “in the strongest possible terms” what he called an “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides” after the clashes and called for “a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives”.

He said he and Mr McAuliffe “agreed that the hate and the division must stop and must stop right now”.

The Department of Justice has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the deadly car attack.

Attorney general Jeff Sessions said that the FBI’s Richmond field office and Rick Mountcastle, the US Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, would lead the investigation.

“The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice,” Mr Sessions said.

“When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated.”

The turbulence began on Friday night, when the white nationalists carried torches though the University of Virginia campus.

It quickly spiralled into violence Saturday morning. Hundreds of people threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays.

Authorities said the car collision left 19 people injured and a total of 35 patients were treated.