In western Japan, a second day of sub-zero temperatures has hampered efforts to find three New Zealanders trapped under an avalanche of snow, presumed dead. The three were hit with the avalanche on Saturday while snowboarding with an Australian near the site of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. The Australian, 29-year old Matthew Skinner, escaped uninjured and told police that his three New Zealand friends were missing. Twenty-five police on foot with sniffer dogs spent late Saturday and all day Sunday searching for the New Zealanders, using specialised equipment to probe snow that was, in some cases, up to 15 metres deep.
Police say all four men worked at nearby Nagano ski resorts.
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