A group of bears escaped from their enclosure at a park in northern Japan and killed two people, police have said.

Officers said two female employees in their 60s and 70s were believed to have been feeding the bears from outside the concrete fence before the creatures escaped at the park near Kazuno City in Akita prefecture.

The employees' mangled bodies were found hours after a colleague escaped and called for help.

Hunters later shot and killed all six escaped bears.

Police believe the bears got over the fence by climbing onto high-piled snowdrifts.

They are investigating the case as possible professional negligence. The privately owned park owns 32 other bears.