A group of six Taiwanese and Chinese snowboarders who went missing yesterday afternoon in Japan’s Minamiuonuma is in contact with authorities, but are still awaiting rescue, Japanese news outlets reported today.
The group became lost when snowboarding off-piste at the Muikamachi Hakkaisan Ski Resort in Niigata Prefecture, then contacted a friend to call emergency services at about 2pm yesterday, they said.
A search operation and a 10-person rescue team were launched at 6:30am today, reports said.
Photo from the Muikamachi Hakkaisan Ski Resort Facebook
The group had not yet been rescued as of 8am, although authorities have maintained contact with them via smartphone, they said.
All six are reportedly uninjured, although temperatures remain at about minus-10°C with intermittent snowfall, they added.
Snow is now as deep as 350cm at the summit and 240cm at the base of the mountain, they said.
Police plan to deploy a helicopter to accelerate rescue efforts once weather conditions improve, they added.
The incident comes shortly after a sightseeing helicopter carrying two Taiwanese passengers crashed on Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday last week.
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