Bear attacks 2 in Japan grocery store, ransacks sushi section

Extra police patrols were deployed to busy commuter routes in the area where the grocery store attack occurred to ensure the safety of children on their way to school.

Two people in a city north of Tokyo, Japan were injured after a bear wandered into a grocery store and began rummaging through food, Japanese authorities said on Wednesday.

According to Japan’s national public broadcaster, NHK, police were called at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday to reports of a bear lying on top of a customer in a supermarket in Numata City, an area northwest of Tokyo.

The bear reportedly attacked a person in the store’s parking lot before assaulting a second inside the supermarket.

Both victims sustained minor, non-life-threatening injuries to their arms and legs, NHK says.

According to AFP, the bear was approximately 1.4 metres long and scoured the store’s fish and sushi selections before stamping on avocados in the fruit section.

The store manager said between 30 and 40 customers were present when the bear attack occurred.

The store is near a mountainous area. Still, it has never had bears come near before, Hiroshi Horikawa, a management planning official at the grocery store chain, told AFP.

Police said the bear eventually ran away.