Woman and her three sons reportedly contacted friends on Facebook after digging themselves into a snow hole on Mount Kenashi

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

An Australian family who went missing at a popular Japanese ski field have been found safe and well, local tourist officials have said.

Police and rescuers on snowmobiles set out at 7.15 local time on Tuesday morning and located the family about an hour and a half later, an official at the Nagano prefectural government told the Guardian. The three sons were located at 8.40 am, and their mother six minutes later.

A spokesman for the Nagano prefectural police said the family were being taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. None of the four, whose names have not been released, is believed to have been seriously injured.

Nozawa Holidays at the Nozawa Onsen ski resort posted on Facebook that the family had been rescued near the top of the mountain.

“Missing family found and are all well in Nozawa Onsen,” its account tweeted on Tuesday. “Great news and a strong message to everyone to take care in the mountains.”

The woman in her 50s and her three sons, believed to be aged between 10 and their 20s, had failed to return after skiing or snowboarding away from marked trails on Mount Kenashi, the Mainichi newspaper reported.

They were unable to descend from the 1,649m mountain, where snow up to 1.32m thick had fallen by Monday night, with temperatures dropping as low as -10C.

They reportedly dug themselves into a snow hole to see out the night and were able to make contact with relatives on Facebook.

The family had set out from Nozawa Onsen, near the west coast of Japan’s main island.

A local weather report on Sunday said the snow was deeper than head-high in parts, after a severe blizzard.

“Don’t head off-piste as there are some extremely unstable layers and the likelihood of becoming stuck is an almost certainty,” the report on the Nozawa Onsen Guide website said.

Australian officials were in contact with authorities in Japan, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.



