Omid, 23, dies in Brisbane after setting himself on fire outside refugee centre during a visit by UN officials

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The wife of a 23-year-old Iranian who died after setting himself alight in protest outside a refugee compound on Nauru has criticised delays in getting him to hospital in Queensland.

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Omid was a recognised refugee who was living in Nibok settlement on Nauru with his wife. He set fire to himself during a visit by United Nations officials on Wednesday morning.

Before his death, his wife criticised delays in getting him to hospital in Queensland.

He was taken to the Republic of Nauru hospital before being airlifted out almost a day later, and his wife has questioned the delay, blaming Australian officials for taking too long.



Omid was treated at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital but died on Friday.

His wife told Guardian Australia through an interpreter that once her husband was taken to the Nauru hospital it took two hours for a doctor from International Health and Medical Services to arrive and treat him, and he was unable to be given intravenous pain relief.

“Staff in Nauru hospital couldn’t help Omid in any way because they were unequipped,” she said.

“A lack of proper equipment and facilities was the reason that staff couldn’t help and treat Omid in the Nauru hospital.”

She said he suffered a cardiac arrest during the night, and doctors performed emergency surgery.

The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) confirmed Omid’s death and said appropriate support was being provided to his wife and friends.

His death will be referred to the Queensland coroner.

The Nauru government offered condolences to Omid’s family.

“We are providing support to all impacted by this sad event,” it said.

Medical advocacy group Doctors for Refugees have criticised the length of time it took to get Omid out of Nauru and to superior medical care in Brisbane.



“The family in Nauru were told that DIBP was unable to arrange a pilot for the medivac,” co-founder Dr Barri Phatarfod said.

“We understand a flight arrived at 6.30am, some 22 hours after the severe burns and leaving Omid susceptible to life-threatening infection as well.”



“Coming so soon after... revelations of DIBP delays in the tragic case of [Hamid] Kehazaei [who died of a preventable infection in Manus Island detention in 2014], it’s quite incredible that this should happen.”

The Australian immigration minister, Peter Dutton, said on Friday there was no delay in moving Omid.

“The advice that I’ve received is that there was no delay. Obviously people realise that Nauru is 4,500km or so away from Australia. There’s a long distance involved and there were other medical issues – I’m advised – [which] presented as well, which made the decision difficult about the time to airlift this person.

“There are obligations that need to be met in terms of the requirements around pilots and air crew, as I’m advised, particularly given the long distance there, and the long distance back to Australia.”

The minister said people should “rely on the facts” rather than jumping to conclusions. Dutton would not comment on the “other medical issues” which complicated Omid’s transfer.

Asked specifically if Omid could not be moved because there was not a pilot available, he said: “I don’t have any comment. The only other thing I would say is, you’re talking about an air ambulance, this is not a plane that’s sitting on the runway at Nauru. The decision ... was made, very quickly, once the condition of the patient was understood.”

Omid was taken by Careflight from Nauru on Thursday morning, about 22 hours after he self-immolated. It’s not clear when Careflight received the call to attend to Omid.

His wife said doctors in Brisbane told her he was brain dead when he arrived, she said.

She was brought to Brisbane also, and waited in the hospital with him, under guard.

Some friends had spoken to her, she said, attempting to offer comfort before she was stopped from speaking.

“Currently I am in isolation in way that I am not allowed to talk to anyone or do interviews,” she said. “They have taken away my mobile phone so no one can contact me and I am being observed constantly by the officers that are accompanying me.”



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Omid’s protest in front of UNHCR officials, who were conducting a monitoring visit, was captured on mobile phone video. The short clip shows him standing in a clearing, soaked in an unknown liquid believed to be accelerant, and yelling.

According to one witness, Omid yelled in protest: “This is how tired we are, this action will prove how exhausted we are. I cannot take it anymore.”

He then set himself alight.

The graphic video of his self-immolation shows a few people nearby, who did not appear to be expecting him to go through with his threat. When he did, they ran and tackled him to the ground, smothering the flames which had engulfed his body. He lay on the ground moaning, with severe burns across his body and head.

A second video shows him in the Nauru hospital, clearly conscious as he paces up and down while screaming – with severe burns apparent to his arms, legs, chest, and back – while distressed family members plead for him to be given assistance and painkillers.

Omid’s wife requested that the graphic videos and images of Omid not be shared or published out of concern for his family. She was able to inform them of his injuries on Thursday.

Within hours of of Omid’s act the Nauru government publicly deemed it a “political protest to coincide with the visit by representatives from UNHCR”.

On Thursday night a vigil was held outside the Brisbane hospital, and detainees on Nauru wore T-shirts bearing Omid’s name while they held their 40th consecutive daily protest.