2 foreign nationals among five missing in Japan's Otari area

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2 foreign nationals among five missing in Japan's Otari area

A mountain rescue team of the Nagano prefectural police heads to an avalanche site in Otari, Nagano Prefecture, on January 30. Yosuke Fukudome OTARI, Nagano Prefecture -- Two foreign nationals were found in a state of cardiac arrest on January 30 after being caught in an unpatrolled area near a ski resort, prefectural police said.

The two were among five non-Japanese skiers or snowboarders who were seen swept up in an avalanche around 2: 30 p.m. on Jan. 29, investigative sources said.

According to police, the avalanche occurred on the eastern slope of the Tenguhara area, about 2,100 meters above sea level, on Mount Hakuba-Norikuradake.

The site is located in a backcountry or off-piste area between the regular skiing courses of the Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Otari and the 2,469 meter summit of the mountain.

The witnesses, both non-Japanese, contacted tourism officials who reported the incident to police and firefighters.

Some of the other non-Japanese people retrieved the five from the avalanche. Three of them climbed the mountain with their own, including an Austrian in his 20 s who was later taken to a hospital for a shoulder injury, police said.

Two of them, believed to be an American and an Austrian, were unconscious and remained at the site.

On Jan. 30, 12 people, including the prefectural police's rescue team members, began the operation to retrieve the two unconscious people.

After using a gondola lift to reach about 1,500 meters above sea level, they walked to the site and found the two around 10: 30 a.m.

Thirteen foreign nationals in three groups had been using the ungroomed off-piste site on January 29. The sources said that the five had repeatedly climbed and descended the mountain.

An avalanche advisory had been issued for Otari since the evening of January 27th, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The agency also issued a heavy snow warning on the night of January 27. Over 40 centimeters of snow fell overnight.

The agency said the weather conditions could have caused a surface avalanche in which a layer of fresh snow slides down the harder snowpack beneath.

Snowfall in Otari reached 103 cm on January 29, as of 7 p.m.

The Hakuba area, where the avalanche occurred, attracts many backcountry skiers and snowboarders from around Japan and abroad because of its excellent snow quality and spectacular views of the Northern Alps.