The parents of Otto Warmbier, the student who died after being held captive in North Korea, have broken their silence and branded the regime "terrorists".

Mr Warmbier, 22, died in a US hospital after suffering a serious neurological injury, and had reportedly been in a coma since shortly after he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in North Korea in March 2016.

Fred and Cindy Warmbier told Fox and Friends of the horrifying moment they were reunited with their son after a year and a half apart, having been told of his "severe brain damage".

Ms Warmbier said: "We thought he was in a coma, but you couldn't call it a coma. What we pictured, because we're optimists, was that Otto would be asleep and maybe in a medically-induced coma. And then when our doctors here would work with him and he'd get the best care and love, that he would come out of it."

Her husband continued: "We were in a waiting room with the medical team as the plane arrived. They went on the plane, five minutes or so later they came down and they said it was time for our family to go to the plane.

"When we got halfway up the steps, we heard this howling, involuntary, inhuman sound. We weren't really certain what it was. We climbed to the top of the steps and we looked in, and Otto was on the stretcher ... He was jerking violently, making these inhuman sounds.

"Otto had a shaved head, he had a feeding tube coming out of his nose, he was staring blankly into space. He was blind, he was deaf. As we looked at him and tried to comfort him it looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth."

Mr Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, was detained after allegedly stealing a propaganda poster.

Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Show all 6 1 /6 Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Photos released by North Korea show Kim Jong-un talking to subordinates next to a device thought to be the new thermonuclear weapon. There is no way of independently verifying the pictures STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb North Korea claims it has successfully tested an advanced hydrogen bomb which could be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A diagram on the wall behind Mr Kim shows a bomb mounted inside a cone STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) attending a photo session with participants of the fourth conference of active secretaries of primary organisations of the youth league of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A new stamp issued in commemoration of the successful second test launch of the "Hwasong-14" intercontinental ballistic missile KCNA via Reuters Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A new stamp issued in commemoration of the successful second test launch of the "Hwasong-14" intercontinental ballistic missile KCNA via Reuters

Pyongyang claimed it was the "biggest victim" in the case, with its foreign ministry adding in a statement after his death: "Although we had no reason at all to show mercy to such a criminal of the enemy state, we provided him with medical treatments and care with all sincerity on a humanitarian basis until his return to the US ... considering that his health got worse."

Mr Warmbier told Fox and Friends interviewer Ainsley Earhardt: "Now we see North Korea claiming to be a victim and that the world is picking on them, and we're here to tell you North Korea's not a victim, they're terrorists.

"They kidnapped Otto, they tortured him, they intentionally injured him. They are not victims, they're terrorists."