Syrian refugee dies waiting for social services?

The report from "Spiegel Online" on Wednesday says the victim was a 24-year-old Syrian refugee who had been in Germany for several weeks. According to Diana Henniges from a refugee initiative called "Moabit hilft," the victim had been sick and repeatedly stood outside the Berlin state office for health and social affairs (LaGeSo) in the cold to receive services such as medical vouchers.

"He was drained from waiting outside in the cold," Henniges told Spiegel, adding that he "had a cold that wasn't treated. In the end, he had to wait outside with a fever."

Henniges said the man didn't have any money for food because it wasn't provided by LaGeSo, which has previously come under fire for allowing dangerous conditions to persist for refugees seeking assistance there.

The man died on Tuesday evening after a Berlin man, who had taken in several refugees in the past, including the victim – called an ambulance after finding the Syrian shivering "with a fever of 39.4" degrees Celsius (102.9 degrees Fahrenheit).

A friend of the man reported that she was chatting with him via mobile phone as he called the ambulance and released her account of their conversation in a Facebook post, in which she describes the man riding in the ambulance with the Syrian after his heart had stopped. The Syrian was reported to have died later in hospital.

The Berlin LaGeSo told Spiegel it had received no information about the case but was looking into the details. Berlin police responded similarly to Spiegel.

A previous version of this article included the name of the Berlin man involved in the incident. That has been removed at the man's request to protect his privacy.