Police are investigating the death of former health minister Els Borst, 81, who was found dead at her home in Bilthoven on Monday evening.

Borst, a doctor by profession, was health minister in two governments between 1994 and 2002. She was responsible for steering legislation legalising euthanasia and embryo research onto the statute books.

Borst, who was a front row guest at last weekend’s D66 political party congress, was found dead in her garage by a friend who alerted the emergency services, Dutch media report. Officials expect to be able to give more details about how she died on Tuesday afternoon.

Earlier it was reported Borst had died under ‘suspicious circumstances’ but Nos said later this was not the case. ‘If it is unclear what killed someone, then there is always an investigation,’ police spokesman Thomas Aling told the broadcaster.