Updated March 27, 2017 22:56:36

Eight people are feared dead and two are in critical condition after an avalanche hit a group of high school students and teachers climbing in central Japan.

The avalanche occurred in the town of Nasu in Tochigi prefecture, about 190 kilometres north of Tokyo. Forty other people 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 students who were participating in a three-day training program for members of mountaineering clubs from seven schools in the area.

Heavy snow had fallen overnight, so a planned climb was cancelled and instead students were practising 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.

"We have avalanche incidents once or twice a year around here, but haven't had anything this big," a fire department official said.

Reuters/AP

Topics: avalanche, japan

First posted March 27, 2017 18:58:32