Updated October 18, 2014 15:49:17
A man suspected of supplying fake drugs to a West Australian mine worker who collapsed and died in his hotel room in Uganda has been arrested.
The dead man was identified by local police as 30-year-old Christopher David Kirkman.
It is believed he was on his way home to Australia from his job in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mr Kirkman died after collapsing in his hotel room in Entebbe near the capital Kampala on Wednesday night after going out with a fellow Australian for a drink.
The other Australian, who police declined to name, also passed out and was rushed to Entebbe hospital near the capital Kampala.
He was recovering after receiving treatment.
Ugandan metropolitan police spokesman Patrick Onyango said on Friday that preliminary investigations indicated Mr Kirkman died of a drug overdose as he also suffered from hypertension.
"We have arrested one man who is alleged to have supplied the drugs to the Australian men," he said.
"The one who was taken to hospital is out of danger. We are still carrying out our investigations."
Police said they suspected the supplied drugs were fake.
Mr Kirkman had been working at a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to the family of a 30-year-old Australian man who died in Uganda.
AAP
Topics: drugs-and-substance-abuse, drug-offences, uganda
First posted October 18, 2014 15:40:54