OSLO, Norway - A polar bear attacked a group of British students camping on a remote Arctic glacier as part of a high-end adventure holiday, killing a 17-year-old boy and injuring four other young people Friday before a student fatally shot the bear.
Two were hospitalized with severe injuries, according to the British Schools Exploring Society, the organizer of the trip.
The attack took place on the Svalbard archipelago, which is home to about 2,400 people and 3,000 polar bears. It attracts well-off and hardy tourists with stunning views of snow-covered mountains, fjords and glaciers.
The British Schools Exploring Society is affiliated with Britain's Royal Geographic Society and has run expeditions for young people to remote and challenging corners of the globe for at least 75 years.
Expedition members were spending three to five weeks in the Arctic, and had each paid about $3,300 to $4,900 for the trip, designed to mix science experiments with adventure.
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On Friday morning, some of the youths were camping on Spitsbergen Island, a place where researchers say there is not much food available for polar bears during the summer. The bears, which can grow to around 10 feet and weigh up to 1,200 pounds, are the world's largest non-aquatic predators. Although they don't usually hunt humans, they can attack if they are hungry.
With their broad paws and claws as long as 2 inches, polar bears are extremely dangerous, and visitors to Svalbard are advised always to be armed, avoid confrontation and store smelly food securely.
The bear attacked a group of 13 people in the early morning, leaving them with moderate to severe wounds that included head injuries, officials said.
One of the campers shot the bear, said Liv Asta Oedegaard, a spokeswoman for the Svalbard governor's office.
The injured were evacuated by helicopter to Tromsoe, the nearest city on the Norwegian mainland.
