At least nine people were killed and 60 injured on Thursday when a bakery fire spread through a crowded market in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Four children and three women were among the dead and 14 of the injured are in critical condition, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Witnesses said they heard an explosion come from a bakery in the Nusseirat camp in central Gaza before a blaze engulfed the bakery and quickly spread to nearby stores, factories and cars parked along the street.