16 skiers hurt by flying rocks, avalanche on Japan volcano

TOKYO — At least 16 people skiing on the slopes of a volcano in central Japan were injured by flying rocks during a surprise eruption and a subsequent avalanche Tuesday, and one person later died.

Six skiers, including the man who died, were among 30 Japanese soldiers who were participating in ski training when they were buried by the avalanche about a half hour after the volcanic eruption, fire department and defense officials said.

Only the crater had been off-limits because of low-level volcanic activity before Mount Kusatsu-Shirane erupted with rocks and ash around 10 a.m. The Japan Meteorological Agency has since banned access to the mountain, and a large swath of the snowcovered volcano was covered by dark gray ash later in the day.

The agency also said the eruption and the avalanche could not be linked immediately. Snow conditions and seismic activity are some of the potential causes of an avalanche.

Five of the civilian skiers suffered serious injuries such as broken bones, but none of the injuries were lifethreatening, said a regional fire department official, Hayato Tobe.

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters that the seven people trapped by the avalanche at the ski resort on the side of the 2,171-meter (7,122-foot) high active volcano, were all rescued, but the soldiers were seriously injured.

The ski area's gondola was suspended after the eruption and about 80 skiers took refuge at a gondola station at the top of the ski slope, according to Tobe, the fire department official.

A military helicopter airlifted the first group of eight skiers to safer ground, according to footage shown by NHK public television.

Kusatsu-Shirane last erupted in 1983.