Two men, including Briton, killed in Japan avalanches

TOKYO: Two people, including a British man, were killed separately on Saturday as two avalanches struck mountains in Japan, local officials and media said.

The 34-year-old Briton was caught in an avalanche on northern Hokkaido island while skiing with two other people, a local official said.

"He was sent to hospital but was later confirmed dead," Takahiro Sumiya, a local fire department official, told AFP, adding that the remaining two -- another British national and a Japanese -- were unhurt.

Further details, including the person´s name, were not immediately available.

Separately, a man was killed after he was hit by another avalanche near a ski resort in Nagano, central Japan, local media reported.

"He was caught in an avalanche when he was snowboarding with two other people outside a ski slope on Mount Norikura," a local fire department official said.