A 27-year-old Sudanese refugee died Saturday at a Brisbane hospital after being flown from Manus Island detention centre where he fell and suffered a seizure, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection says.
In a statement, the department said that the man, known as Faysal, was taken to International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) Clinic on Manus Island for "urgent treatment" after sustaining injuries from a fall and seizure.
"He was then air-lifted to Australia for further medical care. The man died at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital."
The statement added the department was "not aware of any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and expresses its sympathies to his family and friends".
However, the Refugee Action Coalition says the man, who has been held on Manus since 2013, had suffered numerous blackouts and collapses in recent months.
The group’s spokesman Ian Rintoul says he was denied adequate medical treatment before he collapsed on Thursday evening.
"There is no doubt there [are] serious questions of medical negligence,” Mr Rintoul says.
Mr Rintoul says Faysal had suffered from bad health, including long-standing heart problems, for about one year, but that Faysal had not received proper medical attention despite complaining to IHMS and the department's Australian Border Force.
"About 10 days ago 60 other refugees actually signed a letter of complaint to IHMS and to Border Force against IHMS - and the fact that he could not get treatment and hadn’t got proper treatment at IHMS inside the detention centre.
The case will be reported to the Queensland Coroner.
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Hamid Kehazaei inquest: Urgent transfer request denied
IHMS and the department have been questioned over medical negligence of asylums seekers and refugees this year.
An inquest in November into the death of Iranian asylum seeker Hamzid Kehazaei heard that he wasn't sent to Australia despite medical advice that he needed urgent treatment.
Mr Kehazaei had severe sepsis from a cut on his leg that he sustained on August 23, 2014.
After being taken to Port Moresby he was finally taken to Brisbane's Mater Hospital where he was declared brain dead on September 2.
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