TOKYO – Eight Japanese high school students were believed dead after falling into an avalanche on Monday while being trained in mountaineering at a ski resort, authorities and media said.
The avalanche occurred in the city of Nasu in Tochigi Prefecture, about 120 miles north of Tokyo. Forty other people were injured, including two in serious condition, the prefecture said.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said eight people were found without vital signs despite not officially confirmed dead by medical staff.
Japanese media said they were students participating in a three-day training program for members of mountain sports clubs from seven schools in the area.
Heavy snow had fallen overnight, so a planned climb was canceled and instead the students practiced moving through heavy snow as survival training in the mountains, said public broadcaster NHK.
An unidentified student telephoned NHK to say that there was a strong wind blowing and that he could see a white mass coming towards him. One instructor said I should come down and then they all got devoured, he said.
According to Tochigi Prefecture, there were 40 students and eight instructors on the slopes. Fourteen others in the group didn’t go out. The ski season was over at the resort.
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