Body Found After Man Live Streams Plunge to his Death From Mount Fuji, Japan

Police have found a body during the search for a man who fell while live-streaming his climb of Japan’s Mount Fuji. Officers launched the search on Tuesday after receiving calls from concerned people who had watched the footage.

The body was recovered on Wednesday at an altitude of about 9,800ft on the 12,389ft mountain. It has not yet been confirmed whether it is that of the man seen in the video.

キャプチャー動画あげときます

富士山滑落#ニコニコ動画 #ニコニコ生放送 #ニコ生 pic.twitter.com/0erDJ9vBFl

— いのうえ@卵とじ (@ponapona979) October 28, 2019

The live-stream, called “Let’s Go to Snowy Mt Fuji”, was broadcast on Japanese video-sharing service Niconico and showed the climber’s point of view as he ascended the summit on Monday. He can be heard repeatedly bemoaning his cold fingers, saying: “My fingers are killing me. But I have to operate my smartphone. I should have brought a hot pack.”

The snow-covered path becomes narrower and steeper as the man walks along a cliff-side fence, which police believe was near the summit of the mountain.

“Oh, this place is slippery, getting dangerous,” he says. “I’m trying to walk by the rocks, yes, rocks. It’s a steep downhill.”

He is then heard saying, “Wait, I’m slipping,” as the sound of him sliding can be heard on the video. The man can then be seen slipping down the mountain with his hiking sticks flying off before the footage ends abruptly.

Mount Fuji’s climbing season ended last month. Police advise people not to ascend the mountain at other times as snow makes it particularly dangerous, but there is no law against climbing out of season.