What was to be a short afternoon field trip for about 20 students and staff of a school in Bella Coola, B.C., became a scene of trauma and heroism when a grizzly bear attacked without cause, badly injuring four people, the Nuxalk Nation’s elected chief said on Friday.

Thursday’s attack on the elementary class as they had lunch by a river triggered an outpouring of sympathy for the victims, surprise from experts at the bear’s behaviour, and praise for the teachers who drove it off.

It was a moment of “life and death,” said Chief Samuel Schooner, flanked by conservation and police officers at a news conference in the remote community, 700 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.

The severely injured victims were an adult and three children, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said, while seve

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