Polar Bear Kills Briton in Norway

An injured person is carried from a helicopter in Longyearbyen, 05 August 2011, after a polar bear killed one person and left four other members of a British group seriously injured in an attack in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Photo by EPA

One Briton has been killed and four other people severely injured in a polar bear attack in the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, officials said Friday.

The five were members of a British group who were at the Von Postbreen glacier, a statement on the Svalbard governor's website said. Their nationalities have not been confirmed.

They were taken for treatment in Longyearbyen, the largest settlement in Svalbard, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away, the statement said, and would be flown to another hospital in the northern Norwegian city of Tromso.

The polar bear has been killed, the statement added.

The UK's Foreign Office confirmed that a British national had been killed and said relatives of those involved had been informed.

"A consular team headed by the ambassador and the vice consul are on their way to the scene," a spokesman said.

A notice posted on the website earlier this year warned of polar bear sightings near Longyearbyen. Seeking out or disturbing polar bears is banned under local laws.

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