Three people, who appear to be foreign nationals, were caught in an avalanche while they were backcountry skiing in a Hokkaido ski town on Monday, resulting in two deaths and one injury.
According to the Hokkaido police, the fire department of the town of Kutchan received a call at around 11 a.m. that three members of a group of six skiers were caught in an avalanche at Mount Yotei.
Two people — a man and a woman — were taken to hospital unresponsive, and were later pronounced dead.
A third individual sustained a shoulder injury, but is conscious.
According to the Sapporo District Meteorological Observatory, no avalanche warning was issued for the Mount Yotei area, nor was it snowing heavily around the time of the incident.
The estimated snowfall for the 48-hour period through the time of the incident was between 5 to 10 centimeters, not conducive to avalanche conditions.
The police and fire department are investigating the details of the accident.