Police in Limburg are investigating the death of a failed asylum seeker from Macedonia, who died after being arrested in a shopping centre on Tuesday.

The  man, who was 35, had just been told that he had to leave the European Union within 28 days. According to the police statement, he was exhibiting ‘suspicious behaviour’ in the Brusselspoort mall in Maastricht.

When approached by a police officer and a member of the military police force, the man became violent and hit one of the two officers in the face, eyewitnesses said.

There was a struggle and police used pepper spray to subdue the man. Bystanders then helped the police push the man to the ground, when one of them noticed he was going blue. It was later revealed that one of the bystanders was a plain clothes police officer.

Police chief Gery Veldhuis later denied that the man had been placed in a choke hold, as one eyewitness claimed.

The incident was captured on surveillance camera and that is now being studied.