Overview
- The boy left his classroom at Ishikawa Prefectural Komatsu Special Needs School around 11 a.m. on Tuesday after asking to use the bathroom and did not return.
- Security-camera footage from a road near the school showed a child matching his description running toward Junigataki Falls shortly after he left the building.
- School officials said an emergency exit was found unlocked and staff discovered the boy's outdoor shoes at the school while his indoor shoes were found near a rice field, suggesting he walked out on foot.
- About 200 police, firefighters and teachers conducted the search using a police dog, helicopter and drone, and a firefighter found the boy submerged in the waterfall basin about 24 hours after he disappeared; he was taken to hospital and pronounced dead.
- Authorities reported no visible external injuries, said the death was not thought to be suspicious, and warned the case highlights the risks of wandering among children with intellectual disabilities with drowning and traffic cited as common hazards.