Xinhua News Agency, Dec. 2 — According to Kyodo News, around 10 a.m. local time on Dec. 1, four hikers fell near the summit of the Mount Fuji Gotemba Route. The fallen individuals were three men and one woman from the "Kyoto Prefecture Workers' Mountain Federation," aged in their fifties or sixties. Two men in cardiac and respiratory arrest were found near the scene.
According to the Gotemba Police Station of Shizuoka Prefecture, among the remaining two, a man in his fifties was airlifted to a hospital and was conscious. A woman descended the mountain on her own with another hiking group and was later taken to a hospital.
According to the Gotemba Police Station and the Kyoto Prefecture Workers' Mountain Federation, all four were residents of Kyoto Prefecture who had climbed Mount Fuji to familiarize themselves with winter mountaineering techniques. The four were tied together with ropes, which may have led to them falling as a group.
Mount Fuji’s climbing routes are currently closed due to snow accumulation.