Kolkata, Apr 17 (PTI) Five children were injured when an unclaimed bomb-like object exploded at Kaliachak in Malda district on Thursday, a senior police officer said.

The five children – aged between eight to 12 years – were playing in the courtyard of an abandoned building in Dirganagar area under the jurisdiction of Kaliachak police station when they came across the object lying on the ground, the officer said.

As one of them kicked it, the object exploded injuring five children, two of them critically.

The two children were under treatment at Seelampur Rural Hospital and their condition was stated to be serious but stable, he said.

It was being investigated how the explosives landed in the abandoned building compound and who was behind it, the officer said. PTI SUS COR RG