More than 200 Passengers Evacuate Delta Flight at Atlanta Airport (Video)

More than 200 passengers escaped from a Delta Air Lines plane using inflatable slides, and the evacuation and panic caused four people to be injured, following a failed takeoff attempt that was quickly revealed to have been caused by an engine malfunction and almost caused a new air disaster.

According to the details published by the British newspaper Metro, at least five emergency slides were deployed during the evacuation of passengers from a Boeing 757-300 plane on the runway of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, shortly after 9:00 a.m. on Friday.

Photos and videos from the scene showed wrapped passengers descending onto the slides and running through the snow on the runway.

The American airline said: "Delta Airlines crew followed established procedures to suspend the flight after an indication of an engine problem."

Four passengers were injured in the incident, one of whom was taken to the hospital while the other three were treated at the scene, according to airport officials.

"There is nothing more important than the safety of our employees and customers, and we apologize to our customers for their experience," Delta Air Lines said. "Our focus is on meeting their immediate needs and getting them to their destinations safely."

Tracking data shows the plane came to a halt midway on the runway, traveling at 100 mph when the takeoff was canceled.

One passenger said the engine caught fire and the plane skidded off the runway as it attempted to take off. "There's smoke coming out of there," passenger Allison Wade said in a video. "This is crazy, so we're all standing here in Atlanta. We're standing here in the snow."

Atlanta was under a blizzard warning until 7 a.m. Saturday, and the airport was closed Friday afternoon, with hundreds of flights delayed or canceled.