Riots erupt on Australia's Christmas Island following refugee death rumors

A riot has broken out on the Australian territory of Christmas Island, following reports of the death of an Iranian man from the island's detention center.

Local media has reported that guards have abandoned the center, fences have been torn down and a fire was started after the body of the man, known as Fazel Chegeni, was discovered on Sunday after he was reported missing on Friday.

Australia's Immigration Department has on Monday confirmed "a disturbance" on the island, but said no injuries have been reported.

One Christmas Island detainee told TVNZ that the center's guards are nowhere to be seen.

"The canteen's been smashed to pieces, there's no security, there's no emergency response team, there's no border patrol, there's no guards, there's nothing," the man said on Monday.

"They've gone, they've freaked out and left."

Meanwhile New Zealand MP Kelvin Davis said he was told the detainees had "taken over" the detention facility.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that the detainees had not responded well to the news of the man's death, with one telling him there was rumor of a "cover-up."

"I'm hearing that the guards have exited the detention center and fences have been torn down," he told the ABC.

"Some of them have been on that island for four, five years and, quite frankly, everyone's sick of being treated like animals and right now they're turning around and biting."

Davis said though some had incited the rioting, many of the detainees were worried for their lives.

"One detainee said he fears that the authorities will come in not just with batons but with guns," he said.

Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition said the conditions on Christmas Island, combined with rumors surrounding the man's death had led to a boil over of tensions.

"His death has triggered the tensions inside Christmas Island that have been building for many, many months," he told the ABC.

"It is the most systematically brutal of the detention centers run in Australia now."

As of Monday morning, the riot was still in effect, with pressure building on Australia's Immigration Ministerm Peter Dutton, to dispel the rumors and release details of Chegeni's death. Endit