Mount Fuji death: Body found after man live streams plunge to his death from side of mountain

'Wait, I'm slipping,' man is heard saying in video

Video footage appears to show the man approaching the summit of Mount Fuji before falling (Tedzu)

Police have found a body during a search for a man who fell while livestreaming his climb of Japan’s Mount Fuji.

Officers in Shizuoka, one of two prefectures that include Japan’s highest peak, launched the search on Tuesday after receiving calls from concerned viewers of the footage.

Rescuers found the body on Wednesday at an altitude of about 9,800ft up the 12,389ft mountain. They have not yet confirmed whether it is that of the man seen in the video.

The livestream, broadcast over Japanese video-sharing service Niconico under the title “Let’s Go to Snowy Mt Fuji”, showed the climber’s point of view as he ascended the summit on Monday.

In a clip posted to social media, he is heard repeatedly complaining about 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 belive was near the peak 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 then says, “Wait, I’m slipping,” as the sound of him sliding can be heard on the video.

The climber is seen slipping down the mountain with his hiking sticks hurtling away, before the footage ends abruptly.

The man is thought to have travelled from Tokyo to hike up the mountain but his identity has not been confirmed.

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.

Additional reporting by agencies