Second Japanese hostage executed, IS claims

A video has been released which purports to show the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto by the Islamic State (IS) militants, after his compatriot Haruna Yukawa was executed earlier, according to media reports Sunday.

Goto, 47, a well-known freelance journalist and film-maker, was known to have gone to Syria in October to secure Yukawa's release, according to a BBC report.

The Japanese government said that it was trying to authenticate the video.

The video, which bore the same symbols as previous ones released by the IS, showed a militant with a British accent beheading Goto.

Japanese officials had been working with Jordan to secure the release of Goto and the Jordanian pilot Muath Kasasbeh.

An IS video released Tuesday said Goto had "only 24 hours left to live" and Kasasbeh "even less".

The militants had threatened to kill the two hostages if Jordan did not release a woman sentenced to death in Jordan for her involvement in a terror attack on three hotels in Amman in 2005 that killed 60 people.