A Japanese tourist has died while climbing Uluru — the 37th fatality at the site since record-keeping began.

Key points: Japanese national collapsed and lost consciousness

Japanese national collapsed and lost consciousness First recorded death at site since 2010

First recorded death at site since 2010 Climbing Uluru to be banned from next year

Northern Territory Police say the man, 76, was attempting to ascend one of the steepest parts of the climb when he collapsed and lost consciousness about 4:00pm yesterday.

Park rangers were the first on scene and performed CPR until SES crews arrived. The man was flown to the health clinic at nearby Yulara, but could not be revived.

"A helicopter had to be utilised to retrieve this person and take him back to Yulara clinic, but unfortunately he passed away," Duty Superintendent Shaun Gill said.

"This person's believed to be a... Japanese national. At this stage, we don't believe it's anything suspicious."

The climb has now claimed 37 lives since the 1950s, with the last recorded death in 2010.

'Too many people have died'

Anangu traditional owners from Uluru expressed their sadness over the man's death.

"Please, say sorry to the Japanese people there, they've lost one of their own, whenever visitors lose their lives around Uluru and around central Australia we are very sorry about that," traditional owner Vincent Forrester said.

"But we've got to look at the access to these places, Uluru is a sacred place. We put signs at the base of Uluru… for safety's sake."



Climbing the sacred site will be banned from next year, after a unanimous decision by the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board.

The board, made up of eight traditional owners and three representatives from National Parks, made the decision after consulting with the wider Anangu community, which it said was overwhelmingly in support of banning climbs.

On its website, it has previously warned against attempting the trek.

"Too many people have died while attempting to climb Uluru. Many others have been injured while climbing," it said.

"We feel great sadness when a person dies or is hurt on our land. We worry about you and we worry about your family."

Traditional owners have been asking visitors not to climb Uluru since the 1985 handback, and signs requesting people reconsider climbing have been in place at the base of the climb area since 1992.

The ban will begin on October 26, 2019 to coincide with the 34th anniversary of the return of Uluru to traditional owners.

Anangu traditional owner of Uluru Vincent Forrester urges tourists to visit for the culture of the region. ( ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough )

'We want to show you our country'

Mr Forrester said the Anangu have a duty of care to visitors of their land, but didn't want the closure of the walk to deter tourists.

"Please come to Uluru, we want to participate, we want to show you our country," he said.

"We will give you the spirituality of Uluru — and I'm saying this to Australians, too — come learn about your own country.

"We talk about the oldest continuous living culture in the world; Australia, you have something in your own backyard.

"Come and learn, we Anangu will teach you."

He also urged the tourism industry to consult more with traditional owners to increase visitor safety.

"People lose their lives unnecessarily when they come to our land, so talk to us, we may be able to help and enhance the tourism industry, that's what were all about," Mr Forrester said.

"We say to visitors: 'come and enjoy, but please go back home safely'."

Loading...