The department says he suffered a wrist injury in his cell and was briefly admitted to hospital, but has rejected reports of an attempted suicide.

In July, the North Gauteng High Court sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in February 2013.

The multiple gold medal-winning paralympian was returned to his Pretoria cell after the incident, which coincided with the first day of competition at the Rio Olympic Games.

Department Spokesperson, Manelisi Wolela, says: “The Department of Correctional Services can confirm that our management of Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services Centre has been informed about this, they looked at it. He has a small injury on his wrist and was taken to Pretoria's Kalafong Hospital where he was treated and taken back to the facility the same day. He tried to commit suicide.”

He had his sentence increased from five to six years in July, a term that South African prosecutors - who had sought 15 years - called "shockingly lenient" and said they would appeal against.

Newspaper City Press said earlier on Sunday that Pistorius, known as Blade Runner for the carbon-fibre prosthetics he wore when racing, was rushed to Pretoria's Kalafong Hospital around midday on Saturday.

It quoted a security guard as saying: "He had bad cuts on his wrists and the doctors kept wrapping bandages around them."

An inmate situated close to a separate hospital annexe within the prison told the paper Pistorius had injured himself intentionally, and it quoted two warders as saying razor blades were found in his cell.

Asked to comment, Pistorius family spokesperson, Anneliese Burgess, said there would be no statement at this stage.

His initial manslaughter conviction was changed to murder by the Supreme Court of Appeal in December, and his term then increased to six years last month.

Before his sentencing on July 6, Pistorius told British broadcaster ITV that his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, would have wanted him to go free and dedicate his life to charity, not waste it behind bars.

--sabc-reuters--