North Korea releases jailed US student Otto Warmbier

June 13, 2017 20:26

North Korea has released jailed US student Otto Warmbier, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says.

Warmbier, 22, was sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years hard labour for attempting to steal a propaganda sign from a hotel.

Tillerson said Warmbier was on his way back to the US to be reunited with his family in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Washington Post quotes his father Fred as saying his son has been medically evacuated while in a coma.

The newspaper says Warmbier's parents have been told their son contracted botulism soon after his trial 15 months ago, and has been in a coma ever since.

"Our son is coming home," Fred Warmbier is quoted as saying. "At the moment, we're just treating this like he's been in an accident. We get to see our son Otto tonight."

Otto Warmbier, an economics graduate from the University of Virginia, travelled to North Korea as a tourist with Young Pioneer Tours.

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