A two-year-old boy who went missing in woods in western Japan has been found unharmed after three days alone, apparently surviving on river water as volunteers hunted desperately for him.
A two-year-old boy who went missing in woods in western Japan has been found unharmed after three days alone, apparently surviving on river water as volunteers hunted desperately for him.
Yoshiki Fujimoto disappeared on Sunday morning in the Yamaguchi region while out walking with his brother and grandfather, and the search for him made headlines nationwide.
Police and locals combed the woods looking for him, but it was a 78-year-old volunteer from a neighbouring region who stumbled upon the toddler on Wednesday morning.
„I shouted ‚Yo-chan‘,“ Haruo Obata told local television, a red towel wrapped around his head against the summer heat.
„He replied ‚yes, here‘ and there he was,“ added Mr Obata, a retiree who said he regularly volunteers in disaster relief efforts.
The toddler was sitting on a rock, with his bare feet in a small puddle of water in front of him, Mr Obata said.
„At first, I didn’t think it was a human.“ he told reporters. „But there he was.
