Two Women Feared Dead After Bear Rampage in Japan

One woman is thought to have suffered fatal injuries and another is missing after a number of bears escaped from their enclosures in a park in northern Japan.

Police responsible for the area around the snow-covered Hachimandaira bear park in Akita prefecture, which keeps 38 animals, are still trying to contain the situation.

"We cannot go close to the park because we don't know which cages are open, and how many bears are on the loose," an Akita police spokeswoman said.

Emergency services were alerted to the attacks on three members of staff at the park at 10am local time. The park is currently still closed to tourists after the winter months.

Of the three staff who were there at the time, one man managed to escape, but one woman was known to have been badly mauled and another was missing, the spokeswoman said.

"There is an unresponsive female at the facility, but emergency workers cannot go close because there might be bears on the loose," she said. Read More