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Twelve people, including eight soldiers, skiing on the slopes of a volcano in central Japan were injured Tuesday by flying rocks during a sudden eruption, officials said. One soldier later died. A rest house at the resort was hit by volcanic rocks, but the extent of damage was not known, resort official Yasuaki Morita said. Kusatsu-Shirane last erupted in 1983. Japan sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. An eruption of Mount Ontake in 2014 killed about 60 people. Several other Japanese volcanoes are considered unstable and have had small eruptions in recent years.
The eight soldiers were in a group of 30 who were undergoing ski training when they were hit by the volcanic rocks, defense officials said. (Image: Reuters) 
The officials had earlier said the injuries were caused by an avalanche, but later corrected that account. (Image: Reuters) 
The four civilian skiers did not have life-threatening injuries, Gunma prefectural disaster officials said. (AP Photo) 
Only the crater had been off-limits because of low-level volcanic activity before Mount Kusatsu-Shirane erupted around 10 a.m. The Japan Meteorological Agency has since banned access to the mountain, and a large swath of the snow-covered volcano was covered by dark gray ash later in the day. (Image: Reuters)
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