DAVID BARON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Grizzly bear attack in British Columbia seriously injures 3 schoolchildren.

The group of about 20 fourth- and fifth-graders had stopped along a wooded river trail in remote Bella Coola at midday on Thursday when the bear emerged from the trees and attacked, Canadian authorities said.

“Multiple teachers physically intervened,” the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service said, using bear spray and a noisemaking bear banger to drive the grizzly away.

The animal remained loose on Friday, the conservation officers said. They were setting up traps and motion-activated cameras. . . .

Parent Veronica Schooner told the Associated Press that several people tried to stop the attack, but one male teacher “got the whole brunt of it.” The bear ran so close to her 10-year son, Alvarez, that he “even felt its fur,” she said, “but it was going after somebody else.”

Bear spray is nice. A .458 Winchester is nicer.