‘I’m slipping’: body found in search for Mount Fuji climber who live-streamed his own fall from Japan’s highest mountain
- Japanese police said they have found a body on Mount Fuji and are verifying whether it is that of a man seen falling down a snow-covered slope
- Emergency services were alerted to the accident by a viewer who was watching the climber’s live-stream on a local website
Helicopters and ground personnel from the Yamanashi Prefecture disaster prevention unit have been searching for the man, who has not been named, since Monday afternoon and hopes that he will be found alive are fading.
The man was live-streaming his ascent of Japan’s tallest mountain on the Niconico website and footage shows him on a snow-covered path just a few metres below what appears to be the summit. Breathing heavily, the man states “this part is dangerous”, as he continues along the track, adding: “But it can’t be helped.”
Within seconds, the camera angle shifts suddenly and the man says: “I’m slipping.” The footage suggests that the man then falls, and there are a few seconds that show him descending a snowfield above the cloudline.
The camera then begins to spin and there are fleeting glimpses of the man as he slips out of control down the mountainside, along with his hiking poles and a mobile phone, until the footage suddenly halts on a frozen frame.
A viewer who was watching the live broadcast contacted the emergency services, which immediately sent out searchers.
The Sankei newspaper suggested the man may not have been properly equipped for an assault on the iconic mountain, about 140km west of Tokyo.