At least 14 people were injured in an accidental explosion in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The explosion occurred at the exhibition stall of the police's Special Task Force (STF) at the state-organized educational exhibition marking the country's 59th anniversary of independence which fell on Sunday.

The STF men manning the stall were trying to demonstrate a mine when the accidental explosion took place around 3:30 p.m. local time (1000 GMT), witnesses said.

Among the 14 injured were at least four STF men, Dr. Hector Weerasinghe of the National Hospital said.

At least four of them were severely injured, hospital sources said.

Source: Xinhua