If this Group of 5 had "Stayed Together" this encounter would not have made the news. I have never found a Reliable Encounter with a Group of less than 3 that has had lead to a fatal bear encounter (Either Black or Grizzly), i.e. Travel in a Group of 4 or More and Deaths Caused by a Bears Go to Zero. Even a group of 2 cuts your chances of a deadly encounter down greatly.

Remember that if a group either starts an encounter spread apart or breaks up as in this encounter then the Bear Encounter is 1-on-1.