TOKYO — Rescuers found a body on the flanks of Japan’s Mount Fuji on Wednesday (Oct 30) in the search for a climber who live-streamed an accident that may have resulted in his death.

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. 

Japanese news agency the Sankei newspaper suggested the man may not have been properly equipped for an assault on the iconic mountain, about 140km west of Tokyo.

In an earlier segment of the video, the climber is heard saying “my fingers are cold”, and there are growing fears that two nights without shelter on the mountain may prove to be fatal.

The first falls of snow on the peak of the 3,776-metre-high mountain were reported on October 16, about three weeks later than usual. The peak is officially closed to climbers as the summer hiking season closed on September 10.

A Russian hiker was killed by a falling rock on Mount Fuji in August, and there are as many as a dozen deaths on the peak every year, the vast majority of the fatalities among the more adventurous climbers who attempt an ascent in the challenging winter months. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST