Summary: An eight-year-old Australian girl, Chloe Jeffries, was killed in a snowmobile accident at Japan's Hakuba Valley ski resort after the vehicle overturned and trapped her. The tour operator has suspended operations pending a safety review, and police are investigating. This incident marks the fourth Australian death at a Japanese ski resort this year, following other separate fatal accidents involving skiers and a ski lift.
Main Topics Covered:
1. The details of the fatal snowmobile accident involving a young Australian tourist.
2. The response from the tour operator and authorities.
3. The context of other recent Australian fatalities at Japanese ski resorts.
Australian girl, 8, killed in snowmobile accident in Japan
An eight-year-old Queensland girl has been killed after she was seriously injured in a snowmobile accident at a Japanese ski resort.
Chloe Jeffries, from the Gold Coast, was riding on a snowmobile with her mother in Hakuba Valley, Nagano prefecture, on Saturday when it overturned, trapping her underneath. She was airlifted to hospital but later died.
In a tribute from her netball club, Jeffries was remembered for her "beautiful nature" and "her cheeky, infectious smile".
Tour operator Hakuba Lion Adventure said the vehicle flipped after going up an embankment along a forest road and that police were investigating. Jeffries is the fourth Australian to have died at a Japanese ski resort this year.
In a statement, the tour company's CEO Shinji Wada said the "tragic accident" happened just before 11:00 local time on Saturday.
The tour was made up of nine snowmobiles including three guides, he said.
"During the tour, near an uphill curve along a forest road, the snowmobile from the front left the course while navigating the curve and rode up onto the embankment at the side of the trail.
"The vehicle subsequently overturned back onto the course. As a result of the overturn, the passenger riding tandem on the snowmobile became trapped beneath the vehicle."
Wada said it had cancelled all its snowmobile and snowshoe tours until further notice and it would conduct a review of its operations and safety procedures.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to the family.
Last month, Melbourne man Michael 'Micky' Hurst, 27, died after he became separated from his group of skiers between two ski resorts in the Hokkaido region.
It's understood he collapsed suddenly and was taken to hospital but later declared dead.
In the same week, a 22-year-old Australian woman died after becoming trapped in a ski lift at a resort in central Japan.
Brooke Day was using a chairlift at Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Otari, Nagano prefecture, when part of her backpack got tangled in the lift, leaving her suspended in midair.
The woman suffered a heart attack and was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead, officials said at the time.
In January, Australian-Indonesian teenager Rylan Henry Pribadi died while skiing at Niseko Ski Resort in Kutchan Town, Hokkaido.
It is believed he collided with a course boundary role. The cause of death was asphyxiation, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
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