The 22 year old had been in a coma for a year in North Korea
22 year old Otto Warmbier has died a week after returning home reports BBC. He had been imprisoned for 15 months in North Korea for stealing a propaganda sign from a hotel while he was on a tour of the country.
The Cincinnati native was sent back to the US last week on humanitarian grounds but prior to his release, North Korean officials informed his parents that he had been in a coma for over a year due to botulism.
U.S doctors disputed the reports saying that there were no signs of botulism and that his condition might have arisen from respiratory arrest usually caused by a lack of oxygen and blood in the brain. There were no signs of physical torture on Warmbier’s body.
A statement from the family on Monday said: “It is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his journey home. Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at 2:20pm.”
They said the student had been “unable to speak, unable to see and unable to react to verbal commands”.
“The awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today.”
According to BBC, the tour group Mr. Warmbier had travelled with, Young Pioneer Tours, will no longer be taking participants from the U.S.
“The way his detention was handled was appalling and a tragedy like this must never be repeated,” it said in a statement reports BBC.
“Despite constant requests, we were denied any opportunity to meet him or anyone in contact with him in Pyongyang, only receiving assurances that he was fine.”
President Donald Trump has condemned North Korea for its regime in a statement. “The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim,” adding that the death of Mr. Warmbier has further deepened his resolve “to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency”.
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