AN AIR CANADA plane came off the runway after landing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Nova Scotia early today, sending at least 23 people to hospital with minor injuries, officials said.

The airline confirmed the incident with Flight AC624 from Toronto on Twitter:

It did not say what caused the Airbus A320 to leave the runway after landing, but heavy snow was forecast in the eastern Canadian city. Environment Canada issued a snowfall alert and warned of low visibility.

The airline reported 23 people were harmed, though Halifax airport spokesman Peter Spurway said 25 people were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Two of the injured passengers required “urgent attention” but most were being treated for minor cuts and bruises, Spurway said.

Five crew and 133 passengers were on board the plane, according to Air Canada.

Spurway said passengers appeared shaken as they left the plane, describing the incident as “scary.”

One passenger said they were made to wait in the snow after exiting the plane, including injured fliers.

“There was a couple people, all bloodied. Everybody was able to get out, but what was worse was that they left us for an hour outside in the blowing snow,” Lianne Clark told the Canadian Broadcast Corporation.

She said some ran from the plane “because the fuel was coming out and we were scared.”

Spurway said passengers appeared shaken as they left the plane, describing the incident as “scary.”

Greg Wright was waiting to meet his 13 year-old son. He told CBC News he thought his son was joking when he called to say there had been an accident.

“He said, ‘We crashed, we crashed,’” Wright told CBC. “I was panicked.”

Power was out at the airport at the time of the incident, but Spurway did not say whether the accident was linked to the accident.

“We did lose power, we’re not sure if the two incidents are connected. They may be but we’re not sure,” he told AFP.

Back-up generators were running when the flight landed and the runways were lit, he added.

Spurway could not confirm reports that the plane’s wings became tangled in electricity wires upon landing, saying only the Transportation Safety Board ofCanada was on site to investigate the cause of the accident.

Images showed the aircraft sitting on the runway with a damaged nose as thick snow covered the ground.

The flight had departed from Toronto at 9:05 pm yesterday.

Several counties in the eastern coastal province of Nova Scotia were affected by yesterday’s winter weather alert.

The alert had been cancelled by early this morning but light snow was expected until late morning.

- © AFP 2015