MOSCOW, Sept. 3 -- More than 200 people sought medical help and 63 were hospitalized due to intestinal infection in Baksan, a town in Russia's Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, local media reported Tuesday.

Among the hospitalized, 56 are children and they are in moderate conditions, RIA Novosti reported, citing the prosecutor's office of the region.

A criminal case has been opened in Kabardino-Balkaria under the article of "provision of services that do not meet the requirements for the safety of life and health of consumers," according to the republic's investigative authorities.

The authorities added that the cause of the incident could be poisoning with tap water according to preliminary data and investigators have taken water samples for further probe.

  - Xinhua