A volcanic eruption Tuesday on Mount Kusatsu-Shirane left at least 16 injured at a ski resort in central Japan, including six soldiers hit by an avalanche during ski training, officials said.
Nine civilians were injured by volcanic rocks, while seven people — six soldiers and one civilian skier — were hit by an avalanche, according to fire department and defence officials.
Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters that the seven people trapped by the avalanche near a ski resort were rescued, but some of the six soldiers suffered fractures. Defence officials said six soldiers, who were among 30 conducting ski training, were buried by an avalanche about half an hour after the eruption.
About 80 skiers are taking refuge at a gondola station at the top of the ski slope. Gondola operations have been suspended since the eruption, according to Hayato Tobe, a fire department official.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said Mount Kusatsu-Shirane erupted around 10 a.m. Agency officials said the eruption and the avalanche could not be linked immediately.
A rest house at the resort was hit by volcanic rocks, but the extent of damage was not known, resort official Yasuaki Morita said. Aerial photographs showed a large swath of the snowy volcano covered by dark gray ash.
