Missing days remain a mystery

AN EXTRAORDINARY claim was made recently in a BBC report. It concerned a mountaineering accident and its consequences.

On October 7, 2006, 35-year-old Mitsukata Uchikoshi was climbing Mount Rokko in western Japan, when he decided to abandon the attempt. Leaving his companions, he began his descent.

On the way down, he fell and injured himself. “I lay down,” he said, “... in a grassy area, which felt good in the sunshine, and eventually fell asleep.”