When Iranian asylum seeker Hamid Kehazaei was medically evacuated to Brisbane from Port Moresby, he was unconscious, his body almost unrecognisable due to his swollen state, it has been alleged.
The 24-year-old man, who was treated at Brisbane's Mater Hospital, was pronounced dead a week later by Immigration Minister Scott Morrison. But new details have emerged, suggesting the young man's condition was already critical by the time he reached Papua New Guinea's capital on August 26 from Manus Island.
Mr Kehazaei was known as an "all right bloke" by security guards on Manus Island. He died from severe septicaemia, a bacterial disease that had entered his blood stream after he cut his foot at the offshore processing centre.
An expatriate contractor, who has asked to remain anonymous, described the 24 hours on August 26 in Port Moresby as being "panicked" and "critical" to saving Mr Kehazaei's life.
"From when he arrived, he needed oxygen," the worker said.
The man then had five cardiac arrests, the worker said. Medical staff told the worker they would have to amputate Mr Kehazaei's leg, due to the spreading of septicaemia, but his condition worsened.
A leaked report obtained by Fairfax Media shows that the mood in the detention centre continues to be low and Iranian asylum seekers are blaming medical provider the International Health and Medical Service for Mr Kehazaei's death.
Mr Kehazaei is the second Iranian asylum seeker on Manus Island to die this year. Reza Barati died during violence in February.
The report by a service provider on the island says: "It is likely some Iranian transferee will spread malicious rumours about GDD059's death to further their own personal agendas, as well as to exploit unrest to further their own agendas and standings amongst their countrymen."
It also says that "low-level animosity and reproach will be directed towards IHMS" by the asylum seekers.
But the worker claims two nurses from IHMS in Port Morseby worked tirelessly to save the man, claiming Mr Kehazaei had fallen ill "very quickly" on Manus Island.
"They tried to do everything they could for him but the word was he was finished," he said.
The worker said Mr Kehazaei's body was swollen, unrecognisable and then completely covered up when medically evacuated by charter plane to Brisbane.
Mr Morrison has since ordered a medical investigation into the death and the care he received while on Manus Island.
"The matter is currently before the coroner and the minister has asked the department's chief medical officer to conduct an in-depth clinical review on the background to the transferee's medical condition and care while at Manus OPC," a spokesman for Mr Morrison said.
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