6:26 AM
An asylum seeker from Sydney's Villawood detention centre has died in hospital, the Immigration Department says.
The 44-year-old man was transferred to hospital with chest pains on Saturday but died early on Monday, the department said.
Refugee activist Ian Rintoul said the man was Iranian and had fled his home country in 2010 after being arrested and jailed for participating in pro-democracy protests.
He arrived in Australia by plane in April 2010 and had been in detention since then.
Mr Rintoul said the man had a wife and two children in Iran and a cousin in Australia.
He said he had been living in Villawood's housing section for four weeks before being taken to hospital.
The man is the ninth immigration centre detainee to die in the last five years, a spokesman told AAP.
Counsellors were supporting staff and detainees at the centre, the department said.
Posted in: 
