Prime Minister Abe said government will make it 'a top priority' to rescue victims

TOKYO - Seven Japanese high school students and a teacher were presumed dead after being caught in an avalanche on Monday while being trained in mountain climbing at a ski resort, authorities and media said.

The avalanche occurred in the town of Nasu in Tochigi prefecture, about 190 kilometers north of Tokyo.

More than 40 others were injured, including two who were in serious condition, the prefecture said.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said eight people were found with no vital signs, though they had not been formally confirmed dead by medical personnel.

Japanese media said they were participating in a three-day training program for members of mountaineering clubs from seven schools in the area.

Most of them are from Otawara High School in Tochigi.

In Japan, deaths in such circumstances are not announced officially until doctors can confirm them.

A warning had been issued for heavy snow and possible avalanches from Sunday until Monday in the area north of Tokyo, with the local weather agency forecasting snowfall of some 30 centimeters.

Heavy snow had fallen overnight, so a planned climb was canceled and instead students were practicing moving through heavy snow as mountain survival training, public broadcaster NHK said.

One unidentified student told NHK by telephone that there was a strong wind and he could see a white mass heading toward him. An instructor said to get down, and then everyone was engulfed, he said.

Tochigi prefecture said 40 students and eight instructors were on the slope. Fourteen others in the group did not go out. The ski season had ended at the resort.

An official said: "We still don't know how many teachers are included among the victims."

Rescue ongoing

More than 100 troops were deployed in a major rescue mission. Television footage showed rescuers climbing the mountainside as ambulances stood by.

"This is an annual event and we never had a major accident before," one of the teachers told Jiji Press. "I am really shocked."

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

The ski resort had been closed for the season, according to the operator's website, with the lift stopped and no skiers at the site.

But some of its facilities were made available for the high school mountaineering trip organized by local physical education authorities.