Bear attack on school children in Canada injures 11

A grizzly bear attack on a school group in a remote part of Canada injured 11 people, including children as young as nine, police said, with two of the injured reportedly in critical condition.

The attack happened yesterday afternoon in the Bella Coola area of British Columbia (BC) province, regional spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Corporal Madonna Saunderson said.

"Several people were injured by the bear. Injuries are described as serious," she told AFP.

Ms Saunderson said she did not have details about what the group was doing prior to the attack, or what might have provoked the animal, but said it occurred in an area called the 'Old Trail'.

The Nuxalk First Nation said the attack impacted their community, posting on Facebook that there was an "aggressive bear in the area".

The Nuxalk Nation's school, Acwsalcta, said that it was closed today "due to the bear incident".

Veronica Schooner told the Canadian Press that her son was in the group that was attacked, but he was not injured.

"He said that bear ran so close to him, but it was going after somebody else," she told the outlet.

The British Columbia Emergency Health Service reported a total of 11 injuries - including two people critically injured, two with serious injuries, and seven others who did not require hospitalisation, according to Canadian media.

It was not immediately clear if children were among those critically injured.

The Nuxalk Nation reported that the bear remained at large yesterday evening, urging residents to stay indoors.

The Indigenous nation's administrative office today declined to confirm whether a stay-indoor order remained active.

Ms Saunderson told AFP that the BC Conservation Officer Service, a wildlife body, had taken over the investigation.

The conservation service could not immediately be reached for comment on whether the bear had been found.