Tokyo: Japanese rescuers scoured thick forest Monday in search of a seven-year-old boy whose parents left him in mountain woods inhabited by bears as a punishment, in a case that has infuriated the public.The parents originally told police the boy got lost on Saturday while they were hiking to gather wild vegetables — but later admitted they had left him in the forest to punish him.The boy, Yamato Tanooka, went missing in mountains on Japan’s main northern island of Hokkaido, which is inhabited by wild bears.

Read: Missing Japanese boy was left in mountains as punishment by parentsYamato, his older sister, mother and father came to a park near the forest on Saturday, but the parents became angry when the boy threw stones at cars and people, Japanese police said.On the way back home, they made Yamato get out of the car and left him alone in the forest, driving the car about 500 metres (some 550 yards) away, TV Asahi and other reports said.”They said they went back to the site immediately, but the boy was no longer there,” a local police spokesman earlier said.

About 180 rescuers and police officers widened the search area on Monday, mobilising sniffer dogs and horses to go deeper into the woodlands, according to broadcaster NTV.Footage showed scores of officers clawing through overgrown forest and tall bushes as a helicopter hovered overhead.Police searched in the dark Sunday night with torches in hand and calling out for the boy, who was wearing a black jacket, navy blue pants and red sneakers when he disappeared, according Kyodo news agency.”I feel very sorry for my child,” the father told an NTV reporter. “I am so sorry for causing trouble for many people.”

Police said they will look into filing neglect charges against the boy’s parents, according to Kyodo.Japanese reacted with outrage on social media, condemning the actions of the parents.”This is not punishment but abuse!” one Twitter post read. Another added: “The parents are so stupid that I am speechless.”Many also worried about the fate of the child in the forest, alone and reportedly with no food or water as heavy rain fell overnight.Mitsuru Wakayama, a spokesman for the nearby town of Nanae, said local residents only occasionally pass through the mountainous area as a short cut.”Not many people or cars pass by, and it gets totally dark as there are no lights,” Wakayama said.”It’s not surprising to encounter bears anywhere in the area.”

Kathmandu: Nepali rescuers abandoned plans to retrieve the bodies of two Indian climbers missing on Mount Everest on Monday, hoping instead to bring them down next year, an expedition operator said.The two men — identified as Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh — were near the summit of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain on 21 May when they lost contact with the rest of their team.Rescuers found Nath’s body last Friday near the South Col, located at an altitude of 8,000 metres and marking the beginning of the “death zone”.

Ghosh’s body was also spotted the same day on the Balcony — a mid-way stop between the South Col and the summit, before strong winds forced back rescuers, Wangchu Sherpa of Trekking Camp Nepal told AFP.With the short window for climbing on the mountain now closing and bad weather setting in, rescuers said they could not recover the corpses.”Rescue workers have called off their operations to bring back the dead bodies of Indian climbers Goutam Ghosh and Paresh Nath because of bad weather,” Sherpa said.

“We hope to recover (them)… next season.”

The cause of their deaths has not been established. But the “death zone” is notorious for its difficult terrain and thin air, as low levels of oxygen raise the risk of altitude sickness.The missing climbers were part of a team of four, one of whom — Subhash Pal — died after falling ill on Sunday while the fourth member, a woman, was rescued and taken to hospital.Subhash Pal was the third mountaineer to die on Everest this season after an Australian and a Dutch climber succumbed to altitude sickness. All three bodies were transported to Kathmandu last week.

Some 400 people, including more than 150 foreigners, have summited Everest this season after two consecutive years of deadly disasters that led to almost all attempts being abandoned.Hundreds fled Everest last year after an earthquake-triggered avalanche at base camp killed 18 people.Only one climber reached the top in 2014 after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides that year.Despite the risks and recent disasters, Everest’s allure remains undimmed, with Nepal issuing 289 permits to foreigners for this year’s spring climbing season.

Mountaineering is a major revenue-earner for the impoverished Himalayan nation.The successful summits this season is expected to boost the industry, which was left reeling after an earthquake last year killed almost 9,000 people nationwide.