At least 14 people were injured in an accidental explosion in Sri Lankan capital Colombo Tuesday afternoon, defense officials 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 in the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall were trying to demonstrate an anti- personnel mine when the accident occurred, said military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe.

Among the 14 injured were two STF men, two Buddhist monks and 10 civilians, Samarasinghe said.

Hospital sources said at least four of the injured were in serious condition.

Patrick Edama, training director of the STF, said the situation in the exhibition center had been taken under control by the security forces.

He added that this was only a mistake and only the STF stall is temporarily closed for further investigation, and the situation is back to normal at the exhibition premises.

The government said in a statement that this is not a terror attack sabotaging the event and the exhibition will be continued as scheduled.

Source: Xinhua