AS BLAME is exchanged on the Manus Island detention centre bloodbath, it has been claimed that the Iranian asylum seeker killed on Monday night may have been murdered by out-of-control guards who stomped his skull as he lay defenceless on the ground.

According to an account from an Australian guard working for security contractor GS4, obtained by New Corp, local guards working for GS4 were in a frenzy and jumped on the man’s head in a rage on Monday night, inside the detention compound.

But Papua New Guinea clearly believes the Australians are covering up, with Prime Minister Peter O’Neill insisting that no New Guineans were involved in any of the troubles, which led to the one death and two others being medi-vacced to Australia.

Monday night’s violence followed on from Sunday night’s demonstration, when GS4 guards, both Australians and Papua New Guineans, lost control of rioting inside the centre and became irate when demonstrators began chanting, “F**k PNG! F**k PNG!”

Another man survived after his throat was apparently slit with a machete on Sunday evening, after he and six others apparently broke free from the compound.

By Monday evening, Papua New Guinean riot police entered the compound and repelled rioters with fire after another attempt to break out. One man was shot in the behind.

On Thursday on Manus Island, three men who appeared to be Iranians were escorted to an Air Niugini commercial jet to be taken to Port Moresby or possibly on to Australia.

Immigration and GS4 refused to allow News Corp to speak to the men, who all had heavily blackened eyes but were able to walk unassisted.

The debacle — apparently a combination of poor crowd control, inadequate fencing and furious asylum seekers, who have been unable to get answers on what their future holds — has raised serious questions about Australia’s reliance on outsourced security in far-flung offshore centres.

G4S will cease providing security at the detention centre within a month, after the Abbott Government failed to renew its contract — though this was decided prior to the recent riots.

Local Manus police commander Alex N’Drasal told PNG media that the Australian Government needed to deploy qualified people who had experience working in detention centres.

“These asylum seekers are educated people and should be treated (as such),” he told The National.

An Australian health worker said that a fortnight ago, the 1340 asylum-seeker population was relatively calm and there were no signs people were starting to crack.

That changed after they were apparently told — falsely, according to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison — that they would never settle anywhere, including PNG, and were to be sent home.

The detention centre appeared calm yesterday, as asylum seekers went about their business, washing clothes and sitting around talking outside their shipping container homes.

It appears the Australian Government has relied on only flimsy perimeter security to secure the compound, using only two-metre cyclone fences without barbed or razor wire.

While that has mildly reduced the centre’s sense of being a prison, it has also provided the opportunity for frustrated detainees to see the possibilities of escape, even though there was no chance of a getaway on the remote island.

The reaction on Manus Island is that people are not enjoying the attention and are blaming Australia for not properly protecting all people involved in the rioting, whichever side they are on.

Operation Sovereign Borders commander Lieutenant General Angus Campbell assessed security measures on the island on Thursday and is travelling back to Australia.

His visit came as the Australian Greens called for a royal commission into the incident and Labor asked for a government explanation.

“I do think that the Abbott Government would be wise to dispense with its addiction to secrecy,’’ Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said.

However, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his government would not be intimidated into backing away from its strong border protection stance.

“We will not succumb to pressure, to moral blackmail,” Mr Abbott said.

“We will ensure these camps are run fairly, if necessary, firmly.”