BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - BRUNEI'S health ministry has confirmed the country's first H1N1 flu-related death - a 12-year-old girl with a liver ailment who tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

The ministry said in a statement that the girl had been in critical condition since June 26 due to liver failure, hepatitis and pneumonia.

The girl, who died on Thursday, had tested positive for A(H1N1) influenza, and the ministry said it was investigating how she contracted the virus.

Brunei, an Islamic monarchy on the northern tip of Borneo island in Southeast Asia, has 93 H1N1 flu cases so far. -- AP, AFP