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MIYAZAKI -- An elementary school boy was found dead Monday after going missing while climbing a local mountain with his family, police and rescue workers said.

Rescue workers found fifth grader Masaki Miyata, 11, collapsed near a stream about 20 meters below a trail on 1,700-meter-high Mount Karakuni that stands over Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures. His heart and lungs had stopped moving and he was subsequently pronounced dead.

Masaki began to climb the mountain with his parents, younger sister and grandfather at around 11:20 a.m. on Saturday, local police said. He went ahead of his family from around the second station of the mountain.

His family noticed he was missing when they reached the peak, and alerted police after climbing down the mountain, sparking a massive search for him.

On Monday morning, about 1,200 people, including prefectural police, Self-Defense Force and fire department personnel, began to search for Masaki. At 12:26 p.m., the search task force received a report from rescue workers that they found the boy.

The temperature declined to 4 degrees Celsius at 8 a.m. around the area, this autumn's lowest level. Masaki was not dressed sufficiently to protect himself against the cold, according to rescue workers.