5 hurt in bear attacks in 3 Japan prefectures

In Aomori Prefecture, a 57-year-old employee of a ramen shop was scratched on the face by a bear, which was around 1 meter tall, when he stepped out of the back door at around 5 a.m., according to authorities in the northeastern prefecture.

A 78-year-old woman was also scratched on the face outside a house in Gojome in Akita Prefecture, also northeastern Japan, at around 6:05 a.m. The woman's daughter, 50, was injured in her left thigh after she rushed to help after hearing her mother scream, police said.

In Misato in the same prefecture, an 83-year-old man was attacked by a bear near the door of his house at around 6:30 a.m. and suffered an injury to his face. Another bear was spotted nearby and the two left the area together.

In Niigata Prefecture, a man in his 60s made an emergency call at around 7:20 a.m., reporting he had been scratched on the ribs by an adult bear, around 1 meter in length, that lunged from a bush.

Bear attacks this year had left 13 people dead as of Wednesday, with more than a hundred attacked by the end of September, according to the Ministry of the Environment.

Earlier, it was reported that Japan police amended the rules to allow officers to use rifles against bears.