EASTERN PASSAGE, N.S. -- Young students clambered down a ladder and out a window Wednesday after their school bus went off the road and landed in a ditch, slightly injuring one child, police said.

RCMP Cpl. Greg Church said the bus carrying 15 elementary school students was on Cherylann Drive in Eastern Passage when the accident happened at about 7:30 a.m.

"The bus came to rest in a ditch on its right-hand side, blocking the main door," he said. "The fire department assisted the children off the bus through the left-hand emergency window using a ladder."

Emergency personnel, including police, firefighters and ambulances, responded to the crash within 10 minutes, he said.

Church didn't have any details on the child who was hurt, but he said the injuries were not serious. Roads were slippery at the time following a snowstorm Tuesday, he added.

Students were taken off the bus and checked by Emergency Health Services paramedics.

Church said parents were notified and another bus took the children to school.