By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A female undergraduate died while participating in a cross-country hike from what is presumed to be heatstroke, police said Tuesday.
They said the 22-year-old university student collapsed on a road in a rural area of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, at around 3:10 p.m. Monday. She was immediately taken to a nearby hospital but pronounced dead at around 5:40 p.m.
Police and the organizer are working to find the exact cause of her death, though they suspect the current hot and humid weather as the cause.
According to the weather agency, the temperature in the area reached 36.4 degrees Celsius, causing a heat wave warning to be given.
She was hiking with a group of some 140 participants. A pharmaceutical company has organized the 20-day program annually since 1998.
The hikers were planned to walk some 20 kilometers on Monday, before the student lapsed into a coma.