Investigators Assign Blame Following Japanese Avalanche That Killed 6 Students & Teacher

By: Barclay | October 18, 2017

The rescue effort in progress

An avalanche incident that injured more than 40 and killed 7 out of a group of high school students and teachers in Japan is being blamed on the outing’s organizers reports The Japan News.

The slide, which claimed the lives of 7 students and 1 instructor, happened back on March 27, 2017. The outing was put together by the Tochigi prefectural high school athletic federation and was a part of a larger course whose purpose was to train the students on traveling in snowy, alpine terrain.

The slide occurred while the group was gaining a ridgeline covered with freshly fallen snow.

Once the investigation was fully executed, officials found that the federation had been ill-equipped to safely operate such training scenarios safely. Officials pointed to a lack of route finding skills amongst the instructors as well as insufficient training and prior record keeping– which included not mentioning an avalanche they’d observed during a similar outing just 7 years prior. The investigative panel has since issued a “7-point” plan to prevent such tragedies from happening again. So far, no sentencing or criminal charges have been mentioned.