Residents broke down the main gate and set fire at the Mashokhel Hospital in Peshawar on Monday as around 40 children allegedly fell sick after being administered anti-polio drops.

Residents staged a demonstration outside the hospital and damaged the property. The protesters also broke down the main gate of the hispital and set the building on fire.

Hayatabad Medical Complex spokesperson said the children are stable and that they complained of dizziness.

While speaking to media, Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) Coordinator Kamran Afridi said, "There can be no reaction to the anti-polio vaccine. The vaccine was not expired and the condition of all the children is normal."

Afridi further said, "Doctors also said the children did not get a reaction from the vaccine. There are parents in Masho Khel who do not want to administer the drops to their children and they could have felt sick owing to other reasons."

A countrywide campaign to administer anti-polio drops to children under five years of age started today.

National Coordinator of Polio Eradication Programme Dr Rana Safdar told Radio Pakistan Islamabad that the anti-polio drive will target 39 million children in all four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.