Officials say that 73 people, including 20 children and a pregnant woman, have been hospitalized after a chlorine leak in a suburb of the ex-Soviet nation's capital, Tbilisi.

Georgian Health Ministry said that the incident occurred early Wednesday after poisonous chlorine leaked from a tank that belongs to a water utility company.

It said 27 people remain in the hospital, and one of them, a 18-year-old man with asthma, is in a critical condition.

The impoverished nation of 5 million people faces constant problems with crumbling Soviet-era infrastructure.