The boy who went missing in a bear-inhabited forest in Hokkaido, Japan on Saturday has been found alive after six days.
The boy, seven-year-old Yamato Tanooka, went missing after his parents tried to discipline him for misbehaving by making him get out of the car and leaving him behind in a wooded area.
Broadcaster NHK reported that police said the boy was “in relatively good health” and was found in an abandoned military building in Shikabe Town, Hokkaido.
“The boy was found alive, but we don’t have information on details of his condition,” rescuer Satoshi Saito tells the AFP.
Saito added that the boy identified himself to the military personnel on the scene as Yamato Tanooka.
Initially, the boy’s parents claimed he became separated from them while they were scavenging for vegetables, however they later admitted that they had left him behind as punishment.
‘We have done an unforgivable thing to our child and we have caused a lot of trouble for everyone. I just hope he is safe,’ said his father Takayuki Tanooka.
The search saw hundreds of rescuers including police, military personnel and volunteers scouring the area, and as days went hope of finding the boy alive diminished.
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