SYDNEY, March 8 (Xinhua) -- An incident involving two Australian Defense Force (ADF) vehicles on Saturday caused a number of ADF personnel to be injured, Australia's defense department said in a statement.

According to the statement, the two vehicles were providing community support to Lismore, a city located in the Northern Rivers region of the state of New South Wales, following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) quoted NSW Ambulance as saying that it received the emergency call just after 5 p.m. local time on Saturday.

ABC reported that 36 people had been injured and were in various conditions. Three of them had been seriously injured.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said in a joint statement that a number of ADF personnel had been injured, some seriously.

"Medical assistance is on hand. We stress this is an ongoing incident," they said.