PhotoTOKYO — Eight teenagers from a high school mountaineering club died in an avalanche on Monday in an area of northeastern Japan that had been blanketed by unusually heavy spring snows, the authorities said. The students were training about 100 miles north of Tokyo, in an area where the weather bureau had issued an avalanche warning urging caution a day earlier. The area has been in the grip of snowstorms strong enough that rescue helicopters initially had trouble reaching the avalanche zone, according to Japanese news reports. The branch of the Tochigi government responsible for dealing with natural disasters identified the victims as boys from Otawara High School. It said they had been found “without vital signs,” a phrase commonly used by Japanese officials before families are notified and formal death certificates are issued.

Source: New York Times March 27, 2017 08:05 UTC