'Hero' teachers fended off grizzly that attacked students on Canada walking trail, injuring 11, officials said

Teachers who were well prepared and well equipped may have ended a grizzly bear attack on their group of Canadian schoolchildren in British Columbia before it became deadly, authorities said Friday

Teachers who were well prepared and well equipped may have ended a grizzly bear attack on their group of Canadian schoolchildren in British Columbia before it became deadly, authorities said Friday.

Two people were critically injured, two were seriously injured, and seven others were treated at the scene Thursday afternoon, BC Emergency Health Services said in a statement.

At a news conference Friday, Tamara Davidson, minister of environment and parks in the Canadian province, said that three children and one adult were seriously injured and remained hospitalized. Their relatives did not want to release the patients' latest conditions, she said.

"I want to recognize the teachers who took great risk to protect their students," she said. "Their actions deserve our greatest respect and gratitude. They were well prepared, and they are the true heroes."

Kevin Van Damme of the BC Conservation Officer Service said the teachers used bear spray and small noisemakers called bear bangers to repel the animal in the area of Bella Coola, the name of a small town and its underlying valley between the Coast Mountains and Queen Charlotte Sound.