Smoke was spotted on a plane of Shenzhen Airlines on Sunday before it took off at Shenzhen airport that serves China's first special economic zone, according to the company.

Twelve passengers boarding on the ZH9969 flight suffered minor injuries while being evacuated, company sources said.

An investigation into the accident, which occurred at around 6:10 p.m., is under way.

"We're not sure if the plane had caught a flame," said Yue Fanglin, an employee at the division managing the airlines' communication.

Yue said the passengers got bruises because they wore summer attire and the evacuation slide was long.

By 10:10 p.m., 67 passengers of the ZH9969 left Shenzhen on a new flight, while 15 others either rescheduled or canceled their journey.

The incident did not disrupt the flight schedules of Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport.

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