Father ditches 7-year-old for hours to climb mountain

A man left his seven-year-old son behind for hours on Japan’s Mount Fuji while continuing the climb, resulting in a stern warning from authorities, police and local media reported.

The boy was found alone on a hiking route on Thursday and taken into police custody, a local police officer in the Shizuoka region told AFP on Saturday.

The child told his father he was tired at the sixth station of the mountain, which is located at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres (6,500 feet), local SBS TV reported.

As his older brother had gone on ahead, the seven-year-old’s father told him to “wait here” and carried on hiking with his other son, according to SBS.

TV Asahi said that the boy was told to wait for eight hours with only snacks and a soft drink and no money, citing staff at a mountain hut who alerted police to his presence.

Officers contacted the father who was at the eighth station and handed the boy over to him when he returned.

The police officer told AFP that officers gave the man a telling-off for leaving the child behind.

The father reportedly apologised to the police, admitting the act was careless.