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A woman in Japan was sent to hospital unconscious after an apparent bear attack outside a facility for people with disabilities, police said on Friday.

More wild bears have been spotted in residential areas in Japan in recent years, resulting in a rising number of attacks and deaths.

"A 73-year-old woman was found lying down with head injuries at the facility entrance on Thursday night," a local police spokesman in the northern Akita region said.

Emergency doctors told police they believed it was a bear attack based on the injuries the woman suffered, the spokesman said.

Security camera footage outside the facility showed a bearlike animal attacking the woman when she was walking with what appeared to be a rubbish bag, he added. "She was unable to talk due to injuries and was unconscious when sent to hospital."

According to government data, bears attacked 85 people in the year ending in March, with three people killed. In the previous year, there were 219 attacks and six deaths.

The Akita region decided last week to extend its bear alert until September, citing "frequent bear sightings and high risk of encountering a bear". "Please take basic countermeasures and exercise the highest level of caution," it warned residents.

There were two reported bear attacks on July 6 in Nasushiobara, according to The Japan News. An 85-year-old man was bitten on his rear by a bear while tending to his garden in the morning, and then five hours later, a 77-year-old man out for a stroll was attacked by a bear in a forest about 4km (2.5 miles) from the first victim's home. It is not known if they were bitten by the same bear.

On July 12, a man died in the Hokkaido town of Fukushima after being attacked by a brown bear, the Mainichi newspaper reported. A town resident called police to report that "a person was attacked by a bear and dragged into a grassy area". When firefighters and hunters arrived about two hours later, they found the man lying in a thicket. He was later pronounced dead.

A bear sighting on July 16 prompted organisers of a golf tournament to cancel the opening day. And in June, a bear roaming the runway forced Yamagata Airport to cancel flights.

Agence France-Presse