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A TAIWAN teenager has collapsed and died at an internet cafe after playing Diablo 3, a popular online video game, for 40 consecutive hours, local media say.

The 18-year-old identified by only his surname, Chuang, booked a private room at the cafe in Tainan, southern Taiwan, around noon on July 13 and played for nearly two days without eating, the United Daily News broadsheet reported on Tuesday.

On the morning of July 15, an attendant entered the room and found Chuang resting on a table. After the attendant woke him, he stood, took a few steps and then collapsed, the report said.

He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local hospital.

Police were investigating the cause of death and an autopsy was being carried out, the newspaper reported.

They speculated that long hours in a sedentary position created cardiovascular problems for Chuang, the report said.

The deceased had been playing the latest installment of the role-playing game developed by US-based Activision Blizzard Inc.

This is the second death in Taiwan from playing video games this year.

In February, a man in New Taipei was found dead, slumped in a chair facing a computer with his arms still reaching out for the keyboard after playing for 23 hours. The cause of death was reported as cardiac arrest.