Grizzly bear attacks students, teachers in British Columbia; 11 injured

BRITISH COLUMBIA - A grizzly bear is on the loose after attacking a group of students and teachers on a walking trail in British Columbia, Canada, injuring 11 people, two of them critically.

What we know:

The British Columbia Conservation Officer Service responded to a reported grizzly attack on Thursday afternoon in Bella Coola, more than 400 miles northwest of Vancouver. According to the agency, several people may have been injured. 

The Nuxalk Nation posted on Facebook that there was an "aggressive bear" that was on the loose Thursday evening and police and conservation officers were on the scene.

Two people were critically injured and two had serious injuries, Emergency Health Services spokesman Brian Twaites said. The others were treated at the scene.

Parent Veronica Schooner said a lot of people tried to halt the attack but one male teacher "got the whole brunt of it" and was among the people taken by helicopter from the scene.

Schooner’s 10-year-old son Alvarez was in the class of fourth- and fifth-graders that was attacked and was so close to the animal "he even felt its fur," she said.

"He said that bear ran so close to him, but it was going after somebody else," Schooner said.

She added that some children were hit with bear spray as the teachers fought off the bear and Alvarez was limping and his shoes muddy from running for safety. Her son’s thoughts, however, were with his classmates.

Acwsalcta School, an independent school run by Nuxalk First Nation in Bella Coola, said in a Facebook post that the school will be closed on Friday and counseling made available.

As of Friday morning, the animal remained on the loose. 

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