Australian Diplomat Dies In NYC Playing 'Trust Game '

Huge tragedy


Article heading image for Australian Diplomat Dies In NYC Playing 'Trust Game '

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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has described the death of an Australian diplomat in New York as a "shocking tragedy".

Australian man Julian Simpson, 30, died after falling from the seventh floor of a New York City building overnight.

"It is a tragedy and hearts go out to his family but I cannot provide any more details," Mr Turnbull told the Seven Network on Thursday morning.

"It is a shocking tragedy. A young life lost."

Julian Simpson, 30, a second secretary to the UN for Australia, died on the Lower East Side in the early hours of Wednesday, local time.

Mr Simpson had been out with his wife and friends before they returned home to admire the view of the Empire State Building, which was lit up in rainbow colours to celebrate Australia's gay marriage vote.

Police sources say the man was playing a game of trust when the accident happened. 

“I will prove that you can trust me,” Julian Simpson, 30, told a friend as he leaned over his Lower East Side ledge, according to police sources.

“Let’s play the trust game.”

The friend told police he held out his arm to catch Simpson, but the drunken diplomat lost his grip and toppled over the ledge about 1:35 a.m., sources told NY Daily News

Australian officials have reached out to Mr Simpson's family.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian diplomat who died in New York," a spokesperson told AAP.

"The family has requested privacy at this time."

The New York Post reported police sources as saying Mr Simpson may have been playing a "trust" game on the rooftop deck of the building when the accident happened.

Mr Simpson was rushed to the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said: 

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian diplomat who died in New York. The family has requested privacy at this time.”

15 November 2017




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