Los Angeles, Nov 17 (IANS): A total of 23 people were injured after a driver plowed into a group of police recruits during a training run in the south of the western US' California on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

"There are currently 23 patients. Five are in critical condition, four in moderate condition, and 14 in minor condition," said the Los Angeles County Fire Department in a tweet, adding that the department's units "are on scene of mass causality incident in the city of Whittier."

Twenty-two of the injured are recruits of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. They were on a run as part of a training exercise when a 22-year-old driver going the wrong way crashed into the group, reported KABC-TV, the West Coast flagship station of the ABC television network, citing officials.

The driver was also injured and suffered minor injuries, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the KABC-TV report.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed in a statement that the department's deputy recruit class assigned to the STAR Explore Training Academy, Whittier, were struck by a moving vehicle at approximately 6:26 a.m. local time on the 10600 block of Mills Avenue during their run while on training.

The vehicle's driver that struck the recruits was detained pending further investigation, said the department.