(123rf) Four military officials have been referred to prosecutors without detention Saturday over the death of a private who died of heatstroke during an army-organized marathon last year.The Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit said that it had referred the four officials, including the division commander, on charges including professional negligence resulting in death.Investigators allege the officials failed to put adequate safety measures in place while organizing the 9.13-kilometer marathon in September last year. For the marathon, rewards were offered based on each unit's participation and completion rates.The victim, a private in his 20s who had enlisted four months earlier and served as a cook, collapsed during the event and later died from multiple organ failure caused by heatstroke. Temperatures reportedly reached as high as 31 degrees Celsius during the marathon.The bereaved family subsequently filed criminal complaints against the division commander, as well as a senior enlisted soldier and a noncommissioned officer who had run alongside the private during the marathon.
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