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| Missing Japanese boy Yamato Tanooka is found alive after six days | Missing Japanese boy Yamato Tanooka is found alive after six days |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A seven-year-old boy who went missing in bear-inhabited forests in northern Japan after his parents said they abandoned him as punishment, has been found alive, according to authorities. | A seven-year-old boy who went missing in bear-inhabited forests in northern Japan after his parents said they abandoned him as punishment, has been found alive, according to authorities. |
| “The boy was found alive, but we don’t have information on details of his condition,” Satoshi Saito, a fire department rescuer, told AFP. Saito said the boy identified himself as Yamato Tanooka. | “The boy was found alive, but we don’t have information on details of his condition,” Satoshi Saito, a fire department rescuer, told AFP. Saito said the boy identified himself as Yamato Tanooka. |
| Yamato has been missing since Saturday after his parents said they made him get out of their car on a mountain road because he was misbehaving. He was reportedly without food or water. | Yamato has been missing since Saturday after his parents said they made him get out of their car on a mountain road because he was misbehaving. He was reportedly without food or water. |
| JUST IN: Missing Japanese boy left in the woods by his parents found unharmed, police say. https://t.co/mGxk27Mmq4 pic.twitter.com/W5dzEPwJw6 | JUST IN: Missing Japanese boy left in the woods by his parents found unharmed, police say. https://t.co/mGxk27Mmq4 pic.twitter.com/W5dzEPwJw6 |
| Related: Desperate hunt continues for Japanese boy left in forest by parents as punishment | Related: Desperate hunt continues for Japanese boy left in forest by parents as punishment |
| The parents originally told police their son had got lost while they were out hiking to gather wild vegetables but later admitted they were angry and tried to punish him because he had thrown stones at cars and people. | |
| News agency Kyodo said the boy was found at about 7.50am on Friday by military personnel in a building on an exercise area in the town of Shikabe in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. It is about 5 km away from where he went missing, or 7km if travelling the region’s forest paths. | News agency Kyodo said the boy was found at about 7.50am on Friday by military personnel in a building on an exercise area in the town of Shikabe in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. It is about 5 km away from where he went missing, or 7km if travelling the region’s forest paths. |
| A police spokesman said: “A Self-Defence Force official who was on a drill found a boy whose age appeared to be seven. | |
| “There was no conspicuous external injury, and the boy introduced himself as Yamato Tanooka.” | |
| The boy told police he had been in the drill area for several days after walking alone in the forest, Kyodo reported. NHK TV said his parents identified their son. | |
| Manabu Takehara, a Self-Defence Force spokesman, told AFP: “He looked in good health, but he was sent to hospital by medical helicopter.” | |
| Yamato is now undergoing tests at the hospital in the city of Hakodate. | |
| According to a SDF soldier who is familiar with the building but wasn’t there when they found him, the boy was “curled up” on a mattress and not visibly injured. The soldiers gave him rice balls and bread when he said he was hungry and thirsty. | |
| The area of forest in which Yamato went missing has experienced heavy rainfall, with overnight temperatures dropping to 7 degrees C (44F). | The area of forest in which Yamato went missing has experienced heavy rainfall, with overnight temperatures dropping to 7 degrees C (44F). |
| SDF personnel interviewed by TV Asahi said there was no heating in the building, which was supposed to be locked. | SDF personnel interviewed by TV Asahi said there was no heating in the building, which was supposed to be locked. |
| More than 180 rescuers have been searching for Yamato, with the military joining the search on Wednesday. The local town of Nanae requested military support after four days of fruitless searching, with heavy rains at times hampering the search. | |
| “We asked the SDF to go into places which people can’t easily access, such as deep crevasses along creeks,” town spokesman Mitsuru Wakayama told AFP. | “We asked the SDF to go into places which people can’t easily access, such as deep crevasses along creeks,” town spokesman Mitsuru Wakayama told AFP. |