Updated 9.30am

An 80-year-old man was seriously injured in an explosion that was possibly caused by a gas tank leak in a Swieqi garage on Sunday morning.

The police received a call about the incident on Triq il-Qantar at around 7.20am.

A police spokesperson told Times of Malta investigators were trying to establish what caused the explosion, and ensuing fire, in the garage. 

In a statement the police said the man suffered burns in an explosion possibly caused by a gas leak.

Civil Protection Department officials rushed to the site while the man was taken to Mater Dei Hospital.

A magisterial inquiry and police investigations are ongoing.