ISLAMABAD: At least 19 people were injured when a gas cylinder exploded in a children hospital in Pakistan’s northwest district of Swat on Tuesday morning.

According to sources, the injured people included seven children who were under treatment in the hospital, eight attendant women and four hospital staff members.

The incident happened in the hospital located in Saidu Sharif town of Swat, a district located in the country’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Treatment of the injured people immediately started at the hospital where two of them were said to be in critical condition.

Doctors said that most of the injured people suffered burn injuries while some got hurt after being hit by the glass of the windows which shattered in the powerful explosion.

Hospital authorities said that the blast happened following the leakage of oxygen from one of the cylinders fixed in the children ward.

Police, however, said that the possibility of the involvement of some terrorist or criminal element in the incident cannot be ruled out, and an investigation into the incident has been kicked off.