Police officers are examining the scene. Photo / Jimmy Ellingham
The elderly man assaulted in Wellington yesterday has died.
The man has died in Wellington Hospital following the assault at a Mahora Street property.
Police confirmed that a man had been arrested in connection with the attack.
The incident happened in Mahora St, near the Pak'nSave in Kilbirnie, about 9.50am.
Detective Senior Sergeant Warwick McKee said police were completing inquiries at the scene.
A two-storey wooden boarding house on Mahora St was surrounded by police tape and police officers were examining the scene.
Mr McKee confirmed the victim was known to the alleged attacker.
Officers were speaking to a man found in the area and have appealed for sightings of a man walking along Mahora St towards Coutts St with no shirt on, about 9.50am.
The property is owned by Dwell Housing Trust and caters for people who have mental illness.
The owners are distraught over the death.
Dwell Housing Trust CEO Alison Cadman says 10 men live at the house and they're working with police to see what can be done.
She says it's a terrible situation, which has left the tenants very upset.
"I really want to stress that this is really upsetting and devastating for us," trust chief executive Alison Cadman said. "For our people, this is a home, people live there.
"People should be safe in their own home and when somebody's harmed in their own home it's very upsetting.
"The safety and wellbeing of the people that live there are always the priority for us and this is something that could happen anywhere, as I understand."
Ms Cadman said the victim was aged in his 60s.
"Also, I'm very concerned about our staff and their wellbeing and then, yes, we will be reviewing what happened once we find out more information. At this stage we know very little."
The house had been operating for more than 30 years.
Traces of mercury chloride have been detected in white powder sold as MDMA in the region.