Ohio coroner performs external examination instead of full autopsy on body of the student, who died after being sent home from North Korea in a coma<\/b>
\nAn Ohio coroner, abiding by family wishes, has performed an external examination instead of a full autopsy on the body of the US student who was held prisoner in North Korea for 17 months and sent home in a coma.
The Hamilton County Coroner\u2019s Office was still conferring on Tuesday with doctors at a Cincinnati hospital who were treating Otto Warmbier, 22, before reaching any conclusions about his death a day earlier, investigator Daryl Zornes said.
Investigators also were continuing to review radiological images and awaiting additional medical records requested by the coroner, Zornes told Reuters.
He declined to estimate how long it would take for the coroner\u2019s office to complete its inquiry. Preliminary autopsy findings had been expected later on Tuesday or on Wednesday.
There was no immediate word from the family about why relatives declined an autopsy, which may have shed more light on the cause of the neurological injuries that left him in a coma.
Warmbier\u2019s death came just days after he was released by the North Korean government and returned to the United States suffering from what US doctors described as extensive brain damage.
Warmbier, an Ohio native and student at the University of Virginia, was arrested in North Korea in January 2016 while visiting as a tourist. He was sentenced two months later to 15 years of hard labor for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel in North Korea\u2019s capital, Pyongyang, the nation\u2019s state media said.
The circumstances of his detention and what medical treatment he received in North Korea remain unknown. The United States has demanded North Korea release three other US citizens it holds in detention: missionary Kim Dong Chul and academics Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song.
Warmbier\u2019s death has only heightened US-North Korean tensions aggravated by dozens of North Korean missile launches and two nuclear bomb tests since last year in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The North Korean government has vowed to develop a nuclear-tipped intercontinental missile capable of hitting the US mainland.
Warmbier\u2019s family has not specified how he slipped from a comatose state to death, but said in a statement on Monday that the \u201cawful torturous mistreatment\u201d he endured while in captivity meant \u201cno other outcome was possible.\u201c
Relatives have said they were told by US envoys that North Korean officials claimed Warmbier contracted botulism after his trial and lapsed into a coma after taking a sleeping pill. Fred Warmbier, the student\u2019s father, has said he disbelieves this account.
North Korea\u2019s government said it released Warmbier last week on \u201chumanitarian grounds\u201d.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had spoken with Warmbier\u2019s family and praised them as \u201cincredible\u201d.
\u201cIt\u2019s a total disgrace what happened to Otto, \u201d Trump told reporters in the White House, where he was meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. \u201cAnd frankly, if he were brought home sooner, I think the results would have been a lot different\u201d.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the administration would \u201ccontinue to apply economic and political pressure\u201d on North Korea, in conjunction with US allies and China, \u201cto change this behaviour and this regime.\u201c
Trump said on Twitter on Tuesday he appreciated efforts by Chinese President Xi Jinping \u201cto help with North Korea, \u201d adding \u201cIt has not worked out. At least I know China tried!\u201d
The government of China, North Korea\u2019s main ally, said Warmbier\u2019s death was a tragedy.<\/p>\n