Tight security: Guards from G4S Security have been stationed at the morgue where the body of one asylum seeker who was killed in the riot is currently kept. Photo: Jason South

The body of an asylum seeker suspected of being killed during a riot on Manus Island is being guarded and monitored by the same security company whose officers are suspects in the man’s death.

G4S Security was responsible for securing and guarding the detention centre on Manus Island when a riot broke out, leading to one asylum seeker dying, one being shot and more than 70 injured on Monday.

On Thursday when Fairfax attempted to view the body of the victim at the basic hospital and morgue on Manus Island, three G4S security guards refused access and said they had been told to guard the body.

The four guards who were stationed around the rundown air-conditioned freezer shed which is used as a morgue said nobody could see the body without the permission of their superiors. They demanded Fairfax not leave the site until their manager turned up.

When Fairfax contacted the local police to ask who was conducting the investigation, they referred all queries to their commander, who they said had gone home.

The G4S guards stationed at the morgue are indicative of the power the security company has begun to wield on the tiny island.

It is understood PNG nationals who saw the dead body have said the victim appeared to have suffered significant head injuries.

A G4S spokesman said on Thursday night that G4S did not comment on operational or contractual matters.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said: "G4S is providing security in relation to the body of the deceased man until such time as the wishes of the next of kin in relation to the body are known and arrangements can be made.

"Any attempt by anyone to seek to view the body without the permission of the next of kin would be entirely inappropriate and disrespectful.

People seeking to gain unauthorised access to the body would therefore be prevented from doing so.

"Formal investigations into the death of the man have been promised by the Prime Minister of PNG and we have every confidence they will be undertaken. My department secretary is currently finalising arrangements for the conduct of the independent review that I announced earlier this week."

Fairfax later visited the hospital where a G4S bus carrying about eight asylum seekers with distinct injuries arrived for treatment.

When Fairfax photographer Nick Moir tried to photograph the bus the G4S guards grabbed him and confiscated his camera, which was later returned. Local police arrived but refused to intervene and deferred to a PNG G4S manager. He then insisted on deleting all photographs on Moir’s camera.

Meanwhile, an expat worker at the Manus detention centre, who asked not be named, said relationships between local women and asylum seekers had contributed to tension on the island.

Local staff were also understood to be frustrated at the huge pay discrepancies between their salaries and what expat workers were paid.

The expat was on a salary of $120,000 a year, while local staff were earning 15kina a day, the equivalent of about $7.

In the detention centre the PNG Army and PNG’s special branch police force were also stationed in the centre.

"The police and the army don’t get on. They fight on a regular basis, one wanting to be tougher than the other. There was a lot of acrimony."

with Sarah Whyte