Students who died, all aged 16 and 17, were from local high school known for its prowess in competitive mountain climbing and were at the front of the group when the avalanche struck
Investigators pored over a Japanese mountain on Tuesday after a massive avalanche tore through a group of high school students and teachers, killing eight, amid questions about why avalanche warnings were ignored and whether they had proper equipment.
The avalanche in central Japan on Monday, which struck along about 50 meters (150 feet) of a steep slope just above a ski area, killed seven students and an instructor who were part of a 48-person group taking part in winter climbing training.
Thirty-eight people were injured, two of them critically.
Survivors told Japanese media they were training in a wooded area in Nasu, a town in Tochigi prefecture 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Tokyo, when suddenly there were shouts of « Avalanche, get out of here! » and voices yelling to take cover.
« A second later the snow was there and I was buried up to my chest, » said one 16-year-old student. « My face was free, so I managed to get myself out. It was scary. »
The students who died, all aged 16 and 17, were from a local high school known for its prowess in competitive mountain climbing and were at the front of the group when the avalanche struck on the final day of a three-day training camp.
