4th LD Writethru: 8 student boys likely dead after being hit by avalanche in eastern Japan, 30 others hurt

Eight senior high school boys hit by an avalanche on a ski slope in Japan's Tochigi Prefecture were found displaying no vital signs on Monday morning, and more than 30 other people were injured in the avalanche, local authorities said.

They said the avalanche occurred on a ski slope during a spring mountaineering workshop involving school children and their teachers in the town of Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture.

Fire officials said that following the avalanche, more than 30 other people were found to have been injured in the disaster.

More than 60 students from 7 different high schools and a dozen teachers were believed to be on the slope at the time when the avalanche occurred, local media said.

The avalanche struck the Nasu onsen Family Ski Resort in the morning, while students were taking part in a springtime climbing event with the avalanche believed to have occurred on the upper side of one of the slopes at the ski resort that ended this season's operation last Monday.

Emergency calls were received following the avalanche at 9:20 a.m. local time by emergency dispatchers. The teachers and students began their mountaineering activities on the slope at around 7:30 a.m. local time on Monday, a representative of one of the participating schools said.

The weather agency here said that a 33-centimeter snowpack had been recorded in the town over an eight-hour period through 9 a.m.

Following this the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued an avalanche advisory in the area.

The springtime climbing event began on Saturday and was supposed to finish at noon on Monday, a representative of one of the schools involved said.

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.

Both students and teachers from seven different different schools were taking part in a springtime climbing event when the accident happened, local reports and authorities said.

The Tochigi Fire and Disaster Prevention Division said that rescue measures are currently ongoing.

The prefectural Board of Education in the area said that 66 people, including 11 faculty members, joined the climbing workshop from seven high schools in the prefecture and were all concurrently receiving workshops to do with mountaineering on three different slopes when the disaster happened.

The central government has set up a task force at the crisis management center of the prime minister's office.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said himself during a parliamentary session that his government "will make every effort to respond to the disaster, while making it a top priority to rescue victims of the avalanche."

Tochigi Prefecture is located in the Kanto region just 120 km north of Tokyo on the island of Honshu and its capital is the city of Utsunomiya.

In Japan a doctor has to examine the bodies that are showing no vital signs of life before an official death notice can be issued. Endit