Hiker's smart watch reveals haunting final moments before he was dragged into forest and killed by bear
New details of a man who was violently attacked and killed by a bear in Japan earlier this year have surfaced after his smart watch was discovered.
26-year-old Sota Keisuke was hiking on Mount Rausu in the Japanese region of Hokkaido when he was approached by a brown bear, which attacked and killed him.
Keisuke ventured into the forest accompanied by his friend on August 14. While his friend managed to escape and alert authorities to his disappearance, new data from Keisuke's smart watch has now revealed what happened when he was dragged into the nearby forest.
The day after the attack, a search party circled the area where he first encountered the bear. There, they discovered a loose piece of clothing and a wallet belonging to the victim.
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It wasn't until later that afternoon that Keisuke was found and he was immediately transported to hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
Upon investigating his body, police discovered the watch that was connected to a GPS, meaning they were able to unearth further details of his tragic death.
The data retrieved revealed that Keisuke had been dragged from the Mount Rausu hiking trail down a forested slope at around 11.00am, Japanese outlet Asahi Shimbun reported.
The watch, which was presumably still attached to the victim, then circled repeatedly around the same area of thick bush.
Keisuke likely died around 109 to 142 yards away from the trail, when his watch stopped recording his heartbeat.
He appeared to remain there overnight until around 9.00am the next day, when it showed him traveling several hundred yards through bushes, with reports suggesting the bear had dragged the body back once more.
Details of this were further confirmed by the search-and-rescue team, which discovered a mother bear, accompanied by two of her cubs, carrying Keisuke's body.
All three brown bears, which are native to Japan, were killed by authorities at the scene. Additional traces of Keisuke's remains were found near a mound of earth 109 yards from where he first died.
Once his body had been recovered and transported to the Shari Police Station in Hokkaido, his parents were able to positively identify him.
The injuries he sustained were so severe that his parents were urged only to 'look at his face' to confirm it was their son.
Since the attack, the mountain trail has been closed.
However, authorities have insisted that Keisuke's death was the first recorded incident of a bear attack in the region, a peninsula that measures 43 miles long, in 63 years.
According to a report by Japan's Ministry of Environment, at least 13 people have been killed, and more than 100 others have been injured, in bear attacks since April.
Topics: Japan
Alice Wade