TOKYO: Two backcountry skiers have died in a mountain avalanche on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, according to news reports.

The dead in Monday’s avalanche on the 1,898 meter Mt. Yotei were from New Zealand, according to the New Zealand Herald.

The snow slammed into three people in a group of six, according to Japan’s Kyodo News. The man who survived was injured in his shoulder.

AP