22-yr-old US student freed by N’Korea dies after suffering extensive brain damage

American college student Otto Warmbier, 22, who was held for over 17 months, before he was medically evacuated from North Korea last week, has reportedly died according to his family.

His death was announced by his family in a statement released by UC Health Systems, saying, “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”.

Continuing, the statement by Otto’s family revealed that their son could not survive the torture dished out to him by North Korean authorities.

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“Unfortunately, the awful tortuous 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,” the statement added.

In his remarks after Otto’s death, US President Donald Trump offered condolences to the Warmbier family and denounced North Korea as a “brutal regime” with no respect for “basic human decency”.

Otto was arrested in North Korea while visiting as a tourist, and had been described by doctors who examined him last week as having suffered extensive brain damage that left him in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness”.

 

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