Bereaved family of Japanese teenage victim of Itaewon tragedy identify body

The family of a Japanese teenager who died during the Saturday crowd crush in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, arrived in South Korea on Monday and identified the victim's body.

Accompanied by officials from the Foreign Ministry, the family arrived at the funeral hall of the Seongnam Central Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on Monday afternoon. They began the procedure of transporting the victim’s body back to Japan.

Officials at the hospital said the family wished to carry out the funeral after the body was moved back home. The family refused to talk to the media.

Memorial altar for the victims of the Itaewon tragedy set at Seoul Plaza (Yonhap)

The tragedy at one of the busiest districts in the country's capital took 154 lives, including five from Iran, four each from China and Russia, two each from the US and Japan, and one each from France, Australia, Norway, Austria, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.

It was reported earlier that the bodies of the four Russian victims are slated to be moved to the Primorsky Krai region in Russia by ship at an unspecified date.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)