An asylum seeker on board the Bibby Stockholm barge has died, the PA news agency understands.
The first asylum seekers were brought back to the giant vessel, moored in Portland, Dorset, in October, some two months after it was evacuated following the discovery of Legionella bacteria in the water supply.
Further details of the incident are yet to be confirmed. The person’s age and country of origin are not yet known, it is understood.
The person was found dead on Tuesday morning and police and ambulances had arrived at the barge, another person living inside told ITV.
Reacting to the news, Care4Calais posted: “The UK government must take responsibility for this human tragedy. They have wilfully ignored the trauma they are inflicting on people who are sent to the Bibby Stockholm, and the hundreds being accommodated in former military barracks.
“They are being separated from the rest of society and we have witnessed a serious deterioration of people’s mental health. We have regularly been reporting suicidal intentions among residents and no action is taken.
“This can no longer continue. Asylum seekers are human beings, many of whom have experienced the worst traumas imaginable through war, torture and persecution. It’s time our political leaders treated them as human beings, listened to the trauma they have experienced and offered them sanctuary. The government’s proxy war against refugees is costing lives.”