Teen Survivor of Halloween Stampede Kills Himself

A teenager who survived the Halloween stampede in Itaewon but lost all of his friends in the tragedy has committed suicide.

Police in Seoul's Mapo district received a missing person report from the high school boy's mother at 11:40 p.m. on Monday and found him dead in a hostel.

Police ruled out foul play since there were no signs that he had company. He did not leave behind any message. Police decided not to conduct an autopsy according to the wishes of the family.

The owner of the hostel said, "The boy came alone just before 7 p.m. on Monday and I thought it was odd to see someone so young here, but other than that I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."

The boy lost two friends in the tragedy and suffered a leg injury himself. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, he had been seeing a psychiatrist assigned to his school twice a week since the tragedy.

"I believe the student's condition had been improving through the counseling sessions," an office staffer said.

"At such a young age, he probably couldn't handle the mental pain of being the only survivor while his friends died," a family friend said.

Officials at the boy's school have pledged to bolster psychological support for his classmates.