Chitchat Boy left in forest by parents now found alive

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

That's the good news. Should the parents be punished?

Would any SG parents leave their naughty children in Bukit Timah forest, etc?

http://www.todayonline.com/7-year-ol...-alive-rescuer

Quote:
TOKYO — A seven-year-old boy missing since his parents abandoned him in a bear-inhabited forest in northern Japan as a punishment nearly a week ago was found alive on Friday (June 3), officials said.

The boy, apparently unharmed and in good health, was discovered inside a military base at about 7.50am (6.50am, SGT), a police spokesman said.

"A Self-Defence Force official who was on a drill found a boy whose age appeared to be seven," he said.

"There was no conspicuous external injury, and the boy introduced himself as Yamato Tanooka," the spokesman said.

Mr Manabu Takehara, a spokesman for the Self-Defence Forces, also confirmed that the boy was found.

"He looked in good health, but he was sent to hospital by medical helicopter" for a check-up, he told AFP.

The child had been missing since Saturday after his parents said they made him get out of their car on a mountain road as punishment for misbehaving.

He was reportedly without food or water.

The parents originally told police their son had got lost while they were out hiking to gather wild vegetables, but later admitted they became angry because he had thrown stones at cars and people.

'YES, I AM'

The local Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper said the boy had told police that on Saturday night he walked some distance to the hut on the military base.

The base is reportedly located some 5.5km northeast of where he went missing.

An unidentified Self-Defence Force official told national broadcaster NHK that there were two buildings on the perimeter of an exercise field, and that when the soldier opened the door of one of them he found the boy inside.

"When the official asked 'are you Yamato?' the boy said 'Yes, I am'."

Another military official also told NHK that the boy was hungry so the soldier who found him gave him something to eat.

Nippon TV said there was a tap outside the hut and that the boy had been drinking water from it while he sheltered there.

Japanese media interrupted regular programmes to broadcast news of the stunning development in the case which has drawn huge media attention — and criticism of the parents' actions.

The discovery was the top trending item on Twitter in Japan.

"Wow, he was found!" read one tweet.

"How come a child can survive only with water?" asked another.

Police rescuers and fire personnel initially led the search for the boy but after coming up empty-handed the local town of Nanae requested military support.

From Wednesday Japanese soldiers joined in the hunt in the rugged region, where heavy rains at times hampered the operation conducted in overgrown forest and through tall bushes.

Searchers had expressed frustration that they were unable to find any evidence of the boy's whereabouts.

Police have said they are considering filing neglect charges against his parents, according to Kyodo News.

"I feel very sorry for my child," the father told a television reporter earlier this week, as Japanese public opinion bubbled with outrage over the parents' actions.

"I am so sorry for causing trouble for many people." AFP




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