Two men, including Briton, killed in Japan avalanches

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.

Public broadcaster NHK reported the man, identified as a 47-year-old freelance cameraman, was later confirmed dead.

On Friday, a 38-year-old French man was found dead after an avalanche struck a mountain near another ski resort in southern Hokkaido.

The avalanche happened Thursday afternoon when the group of eight went off the resort's ski courses to venture into the untouched snow on the mountain.