12.11.08

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More news from an animal-friendly Japan. . .

Man spends 3 days in valley after driving off road while trying to miss rabbit

A passenger car, right, which plunged into a valley in Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture, is pictured on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Gifu Prefectural Police)
A passenger car, right, which plunged into a valley in Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture, is pictured on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Gifu Prefectural Police)

KAIZU, Gifu -- A 58-year-old man spent three days in a valley here after plunging off a road when he swerved his car to avoid a rabbit, police said.

Satoru Takeda, an unemployed man from Nagoya, was rescued from a valley by a police helicopter on Tuesday afternoon. He sustained light injuries to his left leg and was treated at a hospital.

Takeda told police that his car plunged into the valley at around 4 a.m. on Saturday, after he swerved to the right to avoid a rabbit that hopped out on a prefectural road along the valley. He said his car got stuck on a slope in the valley and that he spent three days there.

According to local police, a couple found Takeda as he sought help from the valley at around 12:05 p.m. on Tuesday. Police officers rushed to the scene and rescued him about an hour later by lifting him by helicopter from about 200 meters below.

"My body was sore so I spent two days inside my car. On the third day, I managed to get out of the car as the pain eased, but I could not climb up the valley," Takeda was quoted as telling police.

He told investigators that it was chilly, but he endured the cold. The lowest temperature while he was in the valley was around 10 degrees Celsius. He reportedly had nothing to eat.

Meanwhile, police found another passenger car in the valley while they were rescuing Takeda. The vehicle, which was lying about 100 meters above Takeda's car, had traces of burning, and a body was found trapped under the car. Police hoped to retrieve the body on Wednesday and confirm its identity.

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