More detainees at Kidlington's Campsfield House are joining a hunger strike in support of Zimbabweans facing deportation, according to campaigners.

Critics of Campsfield House say detainees are feeling depressed

The claim has been denied by the Home Office, although it has confirmed 24 people have refused meals.

Confusion about the protests within the centre came as campaigners reported an attempted suicide by a detainee yesterday afternoon -- just hours after the death of Ramazon Komluca, 18, from Turkey, who was found dead in the early hours of Monday morning.

According to the Campaign to Close Campsfield, an Iraqi man tried to kill himself by swallowing a needle. The Home Office said there was a "self-harm" incident, but that this was unrelated to any other incidents at Campsfield.

The death of Mr Komluca, who had been detained since February, was the first suicide at the centre since it opened in 1993. It is not being linked to the protests either.

Services were held to say prayers for him after his family was informed of his death.

Liz Alsop, a spokesman for GSL, which runs Campsfield, said Mr Komluca was discovered by a member of staff with a ligature round his neck.

She said staff tried to resuscitate him, but paramedics later pronounced him dead.

The Zimbabweans' supporters claimed last night that the hunger strike was spreading to the other 148 detainees but this was denied by GSL and the Home Office.

Roderick Chipezeze, a spokesman for the London-based United Network of Detained Zimbabweans in the UK, said yesterday: "We have been communicating with all nations inside Campsfield and they have pledged to join the hunger strike. If we don't get what we want from the Government -- which is for them to cease deportations to Zimbabwe -- we will launch phase two of the strike, with no-one taking any fluids."

Teresa Hayter, a spokesman for the Campaign to Close Campsfield, said she had been told the hunger strike had spread.

Ms Hayter added: "The death of a detainee shows that it is not just the Zimbabweans who are feeling depressed."

But Ms Alsop said the Zimbabweans were still buying food from the centre's shop, even though they were refusing the three meals provided by the canteen each day.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Calling it a hunger strike is going too far."

But he said that 24 people refused their evening meal and that some people also rejected lunch "out of respect for the person who died".