2020 Tokyo Olympics under-fire after suicide of overworked laborer

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Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games are under-fire after the apparent suicide of a construction worker.

The 23-year-old laborer, whose name is being withheld was part of the crew building the new Olympic stadium, but due to a lack of skilled workers, was forced to work overtime. Reports claim he may have clocked in 200 extra hours during the month of September alone.

Japan is currently facing an acute labor shortage, and construction of the venue is behind schedule, which may have led to the excess working hours.

The parents of the 23-year-old have petitioned the government to recognize his suicide as "karoshi" － or "death by overwork". Government guidelines have installed an overtime threshold of 80 hours a month, and if the reports are true, this laborer would have doubled that. Officials are taking the death seriously, and say they will ensure that this doesn't happen again.

Construction site of New National Stadium, the main stadium of Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo./VCG PHOTO

“We are deeply sorry about the death of the young worker. We want to address the amount of hours reported, which if true, would be illegal. Because of what happened people are very careful working on site. Tadashi Mochizuki, Stadium construction spokesman said.

“I am trying to make sure that my team are putting in the right number of hours and are aware of the procedures to ensure workers are healthy, and most importantly that the amount of hours worked are within the law.”