Overview
- Conservation officers and RCMP are actively searching for the grizzly in the Bella Coola area, urging residents to avoid trails near Highway 20 and the river.
- Eleven people were injured in the Nov. 20 attack, with two in critical condition and two serious; authorities say all four remain in hospital in Vancouver.
- The group from Acwsalcta School was eating lunch on a trail when the bear emerged from the forest and attacked, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
- Multiple teachers intervened—deploying bear spray and a bear banger and, by some accounts, physical force—with a male teacher among the seriously hurt.
- Officials are collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses, noting the attack on a large group is extremely rare and that the bear may have been previously injured.