(BELLA COOLA, British Columbia) — A grizzly bear attack has been reported Thursday in the small, remote community of Bella Coola along the Central Coast of Canada’s British Columbia province, according to regional and local officials.
The British Columbia Conservation Office Service, which was deployed to the scene along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said “initial information suggests several people may have been injured.”
Acwsalcta School, an independent school in Bella Coola run by the Nuxalk Nation, said it will be closed Friday due to the “bear incident,” adding that “it’s hard to know what to say during this very difficult time.”
Nuxalk Nation said the animal “has still not been found” after warning of an “aggressive bear” in the Four Mile subdivision, a forested and residential area in the Bella Coola Valley where Acwsalcta School is located.
Officials also urged people in the area to stay indoors, warning them to not go looking for the bear and to “not go down any trails.”
ABC News has reached out to regional and local officials for more information.
British Columbia is home to an estimated 15,000 grizzly bears, which makes up more than half of the total grizzly population in Canada, according to a 2012 assessment and status report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
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