Ten climbers died in bad weather in mountains in northern Japan, police said yesterday, as survivors recounted the harrowing ordeal of being battered by vicious winds and rain.

Rescue helicopters were dispatched to mountains in Daisetsuzan National Park on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido where gales lashed the climbers, leaving some exhausted and unable to keep going. Eight people from one group and one solo climber died on 2,141-metre (7,024 foot) Mount Tomuraushi while another woman perished on 2,052-metre Mount Bieidake in the same area, a police spokesman said.

At least nine of them were killed by hypothermia, police said.

Officials said they were still trying to identify the victims, who were in their 50s and 60s. But they were not believed to include any foreigners.