Official: Tokyo stadium worker was overworked before suicide

TOKYO – The Japan labour standard office has determined that the suicide of a 23-year-old man at Tokyo’s new Olympic stadium construction site stemmed from overwork, and his family was eligible for government compensation.

Japan’s NHK public television, quoting a lawyer representing the victim’s family, says the victim, in charge of quality control of materials at the stadium site, recorded 190 hours of overtime in one month before killing himself in March. He was less than a year on the job.

Work at the new stadium has been intense because of its delayed start. An earlier stadium plan was scrapped due to spiraling costs and an unpopular design.