An avalanche has buried four ski patrol officers in western Japan, as the country’s weather agency warns of blizzards and snow storms in the area.
The four men are patrol staff at a ski resort and were checking a slope after reports of a snow slide.
A government official says they were swept away and buried by an avalanche while on Mount Daisen in the western Japanese prefecture of Tottori.
Rescuers dug the four out but all of them were in a state of cardiac arrest and are now in a coma.
About 60 centimetres of snow had fallen in the area in just a few hours and the Japanese meteorological agency had warned of blizzards and violent winds.
