Tourists Rescued from Fukushima Spa Resort After Avalanche Isolation

Tourists Rescued from Fukushima Spa Resort After Avalanche

Forty tourists stranded at a hot spring resort in Fukushima were evacuated by helicopter on February 12th after avalanches blocked the road, leaving them isolated for days.

The avalanches occurred on February 10th, first around 4 a.m. and again before noon. The snow blocked the road, trapping 62 people at three hotels in the Tsuchiyuonsenmachi district on the western outskirts of Fukushima city.

Authorities dispatched two helicopters to the scene on the morning of February 12th to airlift the stranded tourists to safety. Clearing the snow from the road was deemed too risky due to the potential for further avalanches.

While the hotels had functioning utilities and communication lines, and all the trapped individuals were in good health, there was no immediate prospect of leaving before the rescue operation.

One of the rescued tourists, a 66-year-old man from Saitama city, expressed surprise at the duration of the isolation. "I thought it was just a road being cut off, I didn't expect it to last long," he said. He added that he felt reassured by the resort staff who kept him informed of the situation.

Another rescued tourist, a 41-year-old woman from Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, said that the hotel provided them with food and that they were not inconvenienced by the situation.

The rescue operation came after the season's harshest cold wave, which brought heavy snow across Japan since February 4th. Snow-related accidents claimed 12 lives across eight prefectures and injured another 158 people across 15 prefectures.

Prefectures facing the Sea of Japan were particularly hard hit, with 37 people injured in Niigata, followed by 33 in Yamagata, 22 in Toyama, and 19 in Fukui.

Disaster Management Minister Manabu Sakai warned of the increasing number of accidents while shoveling snow. He advised people to be cautious of snow falling from roofs and to clear snow with family members or neighbors for assistance in case of an emergency.