Tokyo, Aug 26 (IANS): A woman was killed after being hit by falling rocks while climbing Japan's tallest mountain Mount Fuji, the police said on Monday.

According to the report, the woman in her 20s was climbing with a group when she was struck near the peak of the mountain. An emergency call was received by rescue officials at around 7 a.m. (local time), saying a woman had been injured close to the peak of the 3,776-metre volcanic mountain.

The group had climbed a route along a hiking trail that begins in Fujiyoshida City in Yamanashi Prefecture, according to the police.

One member of the group told rescue officials the woman was struck in the head by falling rocks. As a result of the fatal accident, the route between a rest station and the summit, at an elevation of around 3,450 metres, was closed to the public.

Designated a World Heritage site by Unesco in 2013, the iconic mountain which straddles the prefectures of Shizuoka and Yamanashi attracts hundreds of thousands of climbers each season.

In 2018 alone, almost 300,000 people attempted the climb in the summer season, which attracts the most numbers of climbers, many of whom opt to hike overnight to catch the sunrise from the peak of the mountain.