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Asylum seeker dies on Manus Island: report

It is the second death on Manus Island in as many months.
Asylum-seekers look through a fence at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea March 21, 2014. Eoin Blackwell/AAP/via Reuters
Stringer . / Reuters
Asylum-seekers look through a fence at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea March 21, 2014. Eoin Blackwell/AAP/via Reuters

An asylum seeker from Australia's offshore detention centre on Manus Island has reportedly died.

It's believed the man was a Sri Lankan Tamil and took his own life at a hospital in the township of Lorengau on Monday.

"We had a suicide of a refugee at the Lorengau hospital in the early hours of this morning," Manus Island Police Commander David Yapu told Fairfax Media.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said the man had been sent to the hospital three days earlier.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has been contacted for comment.

It is the second death on Manus Island in as many months.

The body of Iranian refugee Hamed Shamshiripour was found near refugee accommodation in early August.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Multicultural Mental Health Australia www.mmha.org.au.

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