Man leaves tired 7-year-old son alone on Japan’s Mount Fuji during family hike | CNN

A man who left his tired 7-year-old son to wait alone on Japan’s Mount Fuji while he continued a family hike has been reprimanded by police.

A man who left his tired 7-year-old son to wait alone on Japan’s Mount Fuji while he continued a family hike has been reprimanded by police.

The boy was spotted sitting on his own at a hut about 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) above sea level – slightly more than halfway up the country’s tallest mountain – by a worker on Thursday, according to CNN’s affiliate TV Asahi. The case was then reported to the police.

Police said the boy had gone hiking with his father and older brother and was told to wait there when he became “tired” and reluctant to continue walking, TV Asahi reported.

He was told to wait on a bench at the sixth station of the Fujinomiya trail as his father and brother continued their ascent, the report said.

When they returned five hours later, police were waiting with the young boy, who was unharmed and handed back to his father.

The officers warned the man he could be held criminally liable, the Japanese TV broadcaster reported, adding that he expressed his remorse.

Climbers of the 12,388 feet-tall (3,776 meters) volcano have had to be rescued after suffering altitude sickness in the past. Weather conditions up the mountain can also be unpredictable.

Authorities have introduced new rules in recent years, including a cap on the maximum number of climbers per day and requiring them to take a brief class about hiking safety.