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Convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has reportedly hanged himself in a New York jail where he was being held on sex trafficking charges.

The 66-year-old was found unresponsive in his cell at around 6.30am local time this morning at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

Staff who found him initiated "life-saving measures" before requesting additional medical help, an official said.

He was then rushed to hospital with "life-threatening injuries" and later pronounced dead.

The U.S Department of Justice has described Epstein's death as an "apparent suicide" and said the FBI is investigating.

Aja Davis, a spokeswoman for the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said she could not immediately say how Epstein died, adding that her office would need to examine the body.

Meanwhile, Epstein's attorney Martin Weinberg told Fox News he could not "confirm the rumour" that his client had killed himself.

(Image: Reuters)

NBC News and ABC News reported that Epstein had hanged himself just hours after a lawsuit filed by his alleged "sex slave" was unsealed.

It revealed allegations against his friend Prince Andrew, who denies claims that he groped a young woman's breast.

Epstein, who never married and had no children, allegedly ran a sex ring of young girls forced to perform sex acts and nude "massages" for him and his famous and wealthy friends.

The disgraced financier had pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges involving dozens of girls as young as 14 in New York and Florida from at least 2002 to 2005.

He had previously been on suicide watch after being found unconscious 'in a fetal position' on the floor of his jail cell with marks on his neck last month.

Officials were investigating that incident as a possible suicide or assault. It was not clear whether officials had taken any special precautions afterwards.

But he was not on suicide watch at the time of his death, sources told NBC News.

Epstein, who was arrested on July 6, had complained about the conditions in jail and appealed a federal judge's decision to keep him locked up on remand while he awaited trial next year.

(Image: News Syndication)

He faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted.

Lisa Bloom, the lawyer for some of his alleged victims, said they "would have preferred he lived to face justice," but that they will continue to proceed in suing his estate.

"Victims deserve to be made whole for the lifelong damage he caused," she added.

Brad Edwards, another attorney representing some of Epstein accusers, deemed his death "both unfortunate and predictable."

“The fact that Jeffrey Epstein was able to commit the selfish act of taking his own life as his world of abuse, exploitation, and corruption unraveled is both unfortunate and predictable,” he said in a statement.

“The victims deserved to see Epstein held accountable, and he owed it to everyone he hurt to accept responsibility for all of the pain he caused.”

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The FBI is opening an investigation to determine whether proper procedures to assure the safety of prisoners were followed at the jail overnight, a source told Reuters.

At the MCC, two jail guards are required to make separate checks on all prisoners every 30 minutes, but that procedure was not followed overnight, the source said.

In addition, every 15 minutes guards are required to make another check on prisoners who are on a suicide watch.

Another recent MCC inmate, the Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, called his confinement conditions at the same jail "psychological, emotional, mental torture 24 hours a day."

Epstein wanted to be under house arrest in his $77million (£64million) mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

The federal judge had told him prosecutors had shown by clear and convincing evidence that he would pose a danger to the community if released pending trial.

Prosecutors also said there was a high risk Epstein would use his wealth to flee.

The sex trafficking charges were recently announced more than a decade after Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges in Florida.

He pleaded guilty to prostituting minors in 2008 and was given an 18-month prison term, but was released five months early.

(Image: Getty Images)

In the latest criminal case, prosecutors accused Epstein of arranging for girls under the age of 18 to perform nude "massages" and other sex acts, and of paying some girls to recruit others.

Epstein estimated his net worth at $559million (£464million), including a private plane and homes in Paris and the US Virgin Islands.

His 2008 guilty plea was part of an agreement negotiated quietly with Alex Acosta, then the US Attorney in Miami.

He served 13 months in jail but was allowed to leave regularly to work.

Many critics called the agreement too lenient, and it led to Acosta's July 12 resignation as US President Donald Trump's secretary of labour.

In a separate civil court case, a second woman claimed Prince Andrew committed a “sexual act” with her at the home of his paedophile pal Epstein, according to documents.

Johanna Sjoberg gave a sworn deposition the Duke of York fondled her breast after she sat on his knee.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

The financier’s alleged “sex slave”, Virginia Giuffre (nee Roberts), was allegedly sitting beside them.

She has claimed she was forced to have sex with the royal in London in 2001, which he has denied.

Sjoberg’s claims were part of court documents unsealed on Friday as Epstein awaited trial.

They were part of a defamation case brought by Giuffre against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 57, Epstein’s former girlfriend.

(Image: U.S District Court Southern District of Florida)

Sjoberg alleged the incident occurred at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2001 after she was “lured” by “perfect stranger” Maxwell.

She was 21. Giuffre, one of Epstein's many accusers, was 17 and Andrew was 41. The case was settled out of court in 2017.

Giuffre claims Maxwell helped Epstein procure girls for sex. Maxwell has not been criminally charged.

Andrew sparked embarrassment for Buckingham Palace after he was pictured strolling with him in New York in 2011 following the paedophile's release from prison.

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A palace spokesman said: “Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is untrue.”

Giuffre, who accused Epstein of keeping her as a sex slave, claims one of Epstein's associates had instructed her to have sex with at least a half-dozen prominent men.

Trump's name appears in a November 14, 2016, deposition of Giuffre, in which she said Trump and Epstein had been good friends.

In response to a question about how she knew whom Trump had sex with, Giuffre said she "didn't physically see him have sex with any of the girls."

The White House has declined to comment on the claims.