The Canadian air force has ended its search for a Japanese adventurer who disappeared Thursday in the Arctic Sea while traveling from the North Pole to his native Ehime Prefecture, supporters said Tuesday.
The supporters of Hyoichi Kono said the air force informed the support group's secretariat in Matsuyama of the decision to abandon the search at 1:20 a.m. Tuesday.
The supporters said Canadian police have also concluded it is impossible to retrieve Kono's sled, which was spotted earlier, as doing so would be too dangerous.
Kono's base camp in the Canadian hamlet of Resolute plans to ask the Japanese Embassy in Ottawa and the Japanese Consulate in Edmonton, Alberta, to negotiate with Canadian authorities to resume the search, the supporters said.