FAISALABAD, July 30: As many as 14 people, including 12 children, sustained multiple injuries when a 'hand grenade' exploded in a street in Madina Town here on Friday. The condition of two of the minors was stated to be critical.

Local police termed the blast an accident. According to eyewitnesses, some children between five and 10 were playing in the front of the Capital School in Street No 27 when a 'toy bomb' exploded with a big bang.

A dozen children and two young men sustained multiple wounds. Area people shifted the injured to a nearby hospital. On receipt of information, police teams also reached the spot.

Those who sustained injuries include Allah Rakha, Naseer, Naila Mehmood, Muhammad Azhar, Farrukh, Tanveer, Mehmood, Shabbir, Naveed, Zohaib, Ali Usman, Bashir and Jawed Ahmed. They were later shifted to the DHQ Hospital where the condition of Mehmood and Allah Rakah was stated to be critical.

According to the bomb disposal squad, the 'toy bomb' was basically a grenade of Russian make which exploded immediately when someone pulled out its pin. Some of the injured children told this correspondent that they were playing in the street with some toys when a minor boy picked up a shopping bag lying near them. "When we opened the black-coloured shopping bag, it exploded."

Talking to Dawn, the DPO said that it was not a terrorist activity and was just an accident. "The children were playing with a hand-grenade considering it a toy. "However, investigation is being conducted on all lines."

A press note issued by the local police claimed that Tanveer, son of Nazir, had brought a grenade-type device to his home some 15 days ago. On Friday, some children were playing in Street No. 27 of Madina Town when Mehmood, another son of Nazir, took the device to the street and children started playing with it. They tried to crash it with bricks when it exploded.