TOKYO, 27 March (BelTA - Xinhua) - Seven senior high school students and a teacher were confirmed dead after being hit on Monday morning by an avalanche on a ski slope in Japan's Tochigi Prefecture, and some 40 others were injured, local authorities said.
More than 60 students and teachers from seven high schools were on the slope taking part in a springtime climbing event when the avalanche occurred, local media reported.
The springtime climbing event began on Saturday and was supposed to finish at noon on Monday. The students and teachers started climbing at around 7:30 a.m. local time on Monday.
The avalanche was believed to have occurred around 9:20 a.m. local time on the upper side of one of the slopes at the Nasu onsen Family Ski Resort.
Local government authorities, given the scope of the disaster, asked for the assistance of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to help with relief and rescue operations.
The central government set up a task force at the crisis management center of the prime minister's office, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying during a parliamentary session that his government "will make every effort to respond to the disaster."
Seven students and a teacher were found with no vital signs after the avalanche. They were sent to a hospital and were confirmed dead Monday evening.
Forty others were injured, including two students who were severely hurt.
Tochigi Prefecture is located in the Kanto region, 120 km north of Tokyo on the island of Honshu and its capital is the city of Utsunomiya.
The weather agency here said a 33-centimeter snowpack had been recorded in the town over an eight-hour period through 9 a.m. Monday and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) had issued an avalanche advisory in the area.
