In tragic news, the parents of Ottoman Warmbier, the young student of the University of Virginia who was detained in North Korea for nearly a year and a half, announced the untimely death of their son who was in a coma.
Warmbier, who had to go to Hong Kong for a study abroad program, booked his travel with a company, Young Pioneer Tours that arranges group travels. As a part of the package, he visited North Korea as a tourist. However, before he could exit the country, he was detained. After a farce trial, he was sentenced to 15 months of hard labor.
(Image Courtesy: BBC)
During the term he served in North Korea, he was not allowed any consular access. Thus, his parents had no inkling about their son’s whereabouts, let alone knowing that he was in a coma for more than a year. They recently learned about his medical condition and demanded an emergency evacuation to get their son back to his hometown, Cincinnati.
On landing in Cinnanati, he was rushed to University of Cincinnati Medical Center where the doctor examined his condition and concluded that the 22-year-old had suffered an extensive loss of brain tissue, resulting in a state of unresponsive wakefulness. After a struggle of few days, Otto succumbed to the ailment and breathed his last.
Mourning the untimely death of his young son, Otto's father Fred Warmbier thanked the doctors at the Medical Center for trying their best to save his son. He further lashed out on North Koreans, accusing them of subjecting his son with ‘awful torturous mistreatment’ resulting in the death of the young boy.
President Donald Trump paid condolences to the grieving family of Otto Warmbier and condemned the brutality of the North Korea regime.
(Feature Image Courtesy: NPR)
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