Otto Warmbier, the American college student who returned home last week in a coma after 17 months of detention in North Korea, died Monday afternoon, his family said in a statement.
"It is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his journey home."
Warmbier was surrounded by his family when he died at 2:20 p.m., the statement said.
“Unfortunately, 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."
Warmbier went to North Korea in the spring of 2016 with the Young Pioneer Tours travel group, a company that takes participants to places they wouldn't normally go.
The trip was supposed to last five days. But as he tried to depart from Pyongyang's airport, Warmbier was stopped by security.
According to the North Korean government, he was detained because he had sneaked onto a restricted floor of his hotel and had stolen a political poster. He later confessed to the crime, but it's not known if the confession was voluntary.
Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor and spent 17 months in North Korea before being released.
He arrived home June 13 suffering from significant brain damage, unable to respond to verbal communication.
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