Stranded man airlifted from Mount Fuji — then rescued again days later after he returned to get his phone

A climber airlifted with altitude sickness from near the peak of Japan's Mount Fuji last week returned to the slope and was rescued for a second time just four days later, authorities said Monday. 

The climber was identified only as a 27-year-old Chinese student living in Japan. He made an emergency call on April 22 and was airlifted after developing symptoms of altitude sickness, police said, adding that his climbing irons also were damaged.

On Saturday, he returned to the mountain's Fujinomiya trail nearly 10,000 feet above sea level to look for his cell phone and other belongings left behind, Shizuoka prefectural police said. Another climber found him there unable to move after he apparently got sick for a second time, police said.