MANCHESTER, England — Ten people, including two children, were taken to hospital yesterday with pellet-type wounds after reports of a shooting in Manchester, northern England, police said.

Officers were called at around at 2:30am to the Moss Side neighbourhood of the city, where a party had been held following a Caribbean carnival nearby.

“Nine people went to hospital, including two children, with pellet-type wounds that are not believed to be serious,” a statement from Greater Manchester Police said.

“A tenth person — a man — remains in a stable but serious condition in hospital with injuries to his legs.”

Police said they hoped the less-seriously injured victims would begin to leave hospital during the course of the day.

“Thankfully the injuries suffered do not appear to be as serious as first believed, and hopefully people will begin to leave hospital over the course of the day following treatment,” Chief Superintendent Wasim Chaudhry said in a statement, urging anyone else who may be injured to seek treatment. “This was a reckless act that could have had devastating consequences, with families and friends losing loved ones.”

In a message to the local community, he added: “Guns have no place on our streets and we want to assure you we are doing everything we can to find the person or people responsible.”

He later added the working hypothesis of authorities is that the pellets came from a shotgun discharge.

“How many times it has been discharged isn’t clear at this stage and forms part of our investigation,” he said.

The shooting comes amid a spike in gun and knife crime in Britain that has sparked calls for Government action in a country where firearms are strictly controlled.

— AP and AFP reports