Japan toddler found alive after 3 days

A 2-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 neighboring region who stumbled upon the toddler on Wednesday morning.

The toddler was sitting on a rock, with his bare feet in a small puddle of water in front of him, said Haruo Obata, a retiree who regularly volunteers in disaster relief efforts.

The toddler’s survival is all the more astonishing given the hot weather in Japan in recent weeks, with local media saying the temperature where he went missing hit 34 C during his three-day ordeal.

The woodland area has creeks and rivers, and some media speculated the resourceful tot, who turned 2 on Monday while he was missing, survived by drinking from them.

The toddler disappeared on Sunday after his grandfather let him walk back alone to the house where the child’s mother was waiting.

Drones with optical and thermal cameras, search dogs and helicopters were drafted in for the search, along with around 160 police and more volunteers.