Mourning flowers and messages are placed on Oct. 31, 2022, at a location near the site of the deadly Itaewon crowd crush. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — A teenage survivor of the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood has been found dead in an apparent suicide, police said Thursday.
Police found the high schooler dead at an accommodation in western Seoul at 11:40 p.m. on Monday while searching the area following a report from his mother 30 minutes earlier that her son was missing, officials said.
No suicide note was found at the scene while police said there were also no signs of foul play.
“He is assumed to have taken his own life. No autopsy will be conducted according to the wishes of his family,” a police official said.
Initial findings showed he was one of the survivors of the deadly crowd crush on Oct. 29 that killed 158 people during Halloween celebrations.
He lost two friends in the accident after visiting the area together on the night of the accident and had received medical treatment for injuries he sustained.
Police were looking into the circumstances of his death to determine its exact cause.
Seoul education officials and the late student’s family said he had been receiving psychological counseling at a hospital and his school to fight the trauma from the accident.
“The counselor said he was getting better, and he indeed appeared to have begun to recover little by little,” an uncle said at the funeral home set up for him. The final assessment report for the psychological counseling was due to be released Wednesday.
The bereaved family said he initially lost consciousness in the accident but soon regained it after some people sprinkled water on his face.
After the accident, he had fallen into a life-threatening condition but overcome it through medical treatment.
(Yonhap)
