Two skaters who went missing after a landslide in the Nagano area of Japan were found on Monday (30/1), police said. Both skaters are said to have died.
Previously, Japanese police were looking for two foreign snowboarders, aka snowboarderMonday (30/1), after a landslide that occurred the day before in the mountains of the Nagano region.
The couple who reportedly fainted were among five people affected by the avalanche that happened on Sunday (29/1), police chief Tomohiro Kushibiki said. AFP.
They skated with several other people outside a guarded area at a ski resort in the village of Otari, he said. He said the other three skaters managed to pull through on their own.
japanese newspaper, Yomiurireported that 13 people, including citizens of the United States and Canada, had veered off course when the avalanche occurred.
Last week, a cold spell blanketed most of Japan in heavy snow, including Nagano, a popular region for snow sports and attracting foreign tourists.
Avalanche and snowfall warnings from the Japan Meteorological Agency are currently in effect for the area.
A team of 12 police carried out a search on Monday morning, but were unable to send a helicopter “due to bad weather”, Kushibiki said.
As for the missing couple, “we know where they are but we don’t know the exact location because the snow piled up again yesterday,” he added. [rd/rs]
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