From the Daily Yomiuri Online:
HIROSHIMA–Seven snowboarders who had been missing in the mountains near a ski resort in Akiotacho, Hiroshima Prefecture, since Sunday, were rescued near National Highway Route 488 in Masuda, Shimane Prefecture, at 9:35 a.m. on Tuesday, the Akiotacho municipal government’s disaster countermeasures office said.
The snowboarders descended from the mountain, accompanied by members of the Ground Self-Defense Force, and were carried by helicopters to three hospitals in Hiroshima.
The seven are Takahiko Aoki, 34, self-employed, and Yasuo Matsubara, 34, a carpenter, both of Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture; Shigenori Hattori, 40, a carpenter of Hiraocho, Yamaguchi Prefecture; Akihiko Sugiyama, 36, self-employed of Nishi Ward, Hiroshima; Nobuyuki Nakamura, 30, a company employee of Higashi Ward, Hiroshima; Muneaki Kaneto, 33, and Shinichi Hatahashi, 31, both of whom are part-time workers at the Osorakan Ski Field resort.
According to the countermeasures office, a rescue team comprising 24 personnel from a local fire brigade and the GSDF found two of the missing seven snowboarding along a road connecting Mt. Kyurakan to Mt. Hiromi in Shimane Prefecture.
Acting on information from the two, the squad found the other five about 100 meters east on a forest road. The five were also descending from the mountain by snowboarding or walking.
[Link: Daily Yomiuri Online]
