New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has said the death of a 26-year-old soldier outside of combat in Afghanistan, which "does not appear to involve the actions of another party" was "a very tragic circumstance.''

While authorities are not confirming suicide as the cause of death, those who have spoken to the media about the case cannot divulge any more information, after the soldier was identified as Corporal Douglas Hughes.

The Defence Force confirmed the identity of Corporal Hughes Wednesday afternoon, merely a day after he was rushed to the hospital, but did not survive.

Corporal Hughes was a rifleman from 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment based at Linton Military Camp, the Herald reported.

"The death was not the result of combat action and does not appear to involve the actions of another party," Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman told New Zealand Herald.

Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Rhys Jones said Corporal Hughes was on his second rotation, and his contingent was scheduled to come home later this month after a six-month deployment.

"While there has been some speculation in the media around the nature of Corporal Hughes' death we will be unable to confirm this until a full investigation has been completed,'' General Jones said.

Speaking to the media following a media conference Wednesday, Mr Key wanted to make sure the late soldier's superiors have done well in their leadership roles.

"I can't really say too much more about that for obvious reasons... Beyond that, we would want to make sure that if he was experiencing difficulties he was getting the appropriate level of pastoral care from his superiors on the ground. My experience of being up there is they're very well led in the PRT but we'll just want to follow up on that obviously,'' the PM said.

As of Wednesday afternoon in New Zealand, arrangements were being made for the return of Corporal Hughes' body to his family as soon as possible.