No one died and 14 passengers were lightly injured in an Air France passenger jet crash at Pearson International Airport Tuesday afternoon, airport officials said.

The A340 burst into flames after skidding off the runway after landing at Toronto's Pearson International Airport in a thunderstorm.

Aboard the jet, there were 297 passengers and 12 crew members, Steve Shaw, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, told a news conference.

There are no known fatalities and minor injuries are unconfirmed, but it's something around 14 (injured)," Shaw told a news conference at 6 p.m. (local time).

Hospitals in the Toronto area started receiving injured passengers shortly after the Air France jet skidded off a runway at Pearson International Airport Tuesday.

One passenger, Roel Bramar, said that he saw lightning just as the plane landed in a torrential downpour, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Cooperation (CBC).

"I'm sure that the bad weather was responsible," said Bramar, who was not injured and managed to scramble off the plane by means of an emergency chute. He was the second person off the plane, he said.

Flight 358 from Paris had been scheduled to arrive at Toronto at 3:35 p.m. EDT (Canadian Eastern Time).

The plane skidded off Runway 24 Left, an east-west runway laid out parallel to one of Toronto's busiest roads, Highway 401. It ended up in the Etobicoke Creek ravine, a small valley at the far west end of the airport, the aircraft's fuselage tipped down and its tail in the air.

Source: Xinhua