Body Found after Possible Bear Attack at Onsen Facility in Iwate

Morioka, Iwate Pref., Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)–A male body was found near where a bear was hunted in a wooded area in the northeastern Japan city of Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, at around 9 a.m. on Friday. Iwate prefectural police believe that the body is that of a 60-year-old employee of an “onsen” hot spring facility located about 50 meters away. The police have been searching for the employee, believing that he was attacked and carried off by a bear the previous day. The bear hunted on Friday was a 1.5-meter male, according to the police. On Thursday, the onsen facility reported to police at around 11:15 a.m. that the employee had gone missing. He had been cleaning an open-air bath, and items such as a pair of glasses and cleaning tools were found nearby. Blood stains were also found on a rock near the entrance of the bath and under the surrounding fence, as well as hairs believed to be from an animal around the fence. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]