The tragedy was caused by explosive remnants of war like bombs and landmines that children were playing with in an open field in a village, said Abdi Ahmed Ali, deputy district commissioner of Qoryoley town.

The hospital in Qoryoley received 22 bodies of the children and two of the wounded died after they were sent to the hospital, Ahmed said on the phone, adding that another child died on the way to hospital in the capital Mogadishu.

He said the minors were boys between 10 and 15 years old.