Climbers freeze to death on Japanese mountains

Five middle-aged climbers have frozen to death on two separate mountains in Japan, while a male skier was missing on one of the slopes, police said today.

Two female climbers were found dead on snow-covered 2,026-metre-high Mount Sennokura in Niigata Prefecture, said provincial police spokesman Katsuhiro Shirakawa.

The two were found dead of hypothermia this morning, Shirakawa said.

Separately, a party of three climbers, two men and a woman, were found frozen to death on Mount Amidadake, a 2,805-metre mountain in Nagano Prefecture yesterday, said local police spokesman Susumu Kitahara. Mount Amidadake is about 90 miles west of the capital.