Alex Salmond died as he opened bottle of ketchup, witness claims

Former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond died as he opened a bottle of ketchup, a witness has claimed.

The Alba Party leader died suddenly in North Macedonia on Saturday aged 69.

He had made a speech at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Forum in the city of Ohrid before collapsing at lunch in a crowded room.

A post-mortem examination confirmed Mr Salmond’s cause of death as a heart attack, the Alba Party said on Monday.

Eyewitness Mark Donfried, director of the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy, has explained what he saw in the moments before Mr Salmond’s death.

Mr Donfried told Times Radio: “He came together with Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, also from the Alba Party in Scotland, and they were eating.

“Later on Tasmina told me she was having trouble opening the ketchup and she reached over and said, ‘Hey, can you give me a hand?’.

“And he was helping her with that when literally he fell back in his chair, totally out of the blue, without warning.

“Next to him was the former chief executive of the stock exchange of Cyprus and he basically took him in his arms. He was convinced – he told me later – that immediately he was unconscious.

“So we don’t think Alex actually suffered any pain, thank God. He felt his heart and he couldn’t feel the heart rate then.”

Paramedics tried to resuscitate Mr Salmond for half an hour before pronouncing him dead, according to Mr Donfried.

“Really time stopped,” he said. “The entire hotel, the entire conference was in shock.”

The Scottish and UK governments are working together to repatriate the ex-SNP leader’s body.

Conservative MP David Davis, who was a friend of Mr Salmond, called for the RAF to bring Mr Salmond’s body back to the UK.

The Alba Party, which Mr Salmond founded in 2021 after leaving the SNP, said it expected an update on his return on Monday evening.

Tributes have poured in since his death at the weekend with First Minister John Swinney saying he “inspired a generation” to believe in independence.

In a statement, Mr Salmond’s family said he was “a devoted and loving husband, a fiercely loyal brother, a proud and thoughtful uncle and a faithful and trusted friend”.

They added: “Alex was a formidable politician, an amazing orator, an outstanding intellect and admired throughout the world.

“He loved meeting people and hearing their stories and showed incredible kindness to those who needed it.

“He dedicated his adult life to the cause he believed in – independence for Scotland.”

Mr Salmond served as first minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014 and was leader of the SNP on two occasions, from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014.

He resigned as first minister after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum resulted in a 55 per cent to 45 per cent vote to stay in the UK.

He launched his rival Scottish independence party, Alba, in 2021 after his relationship with his successor Nicola Sturgeon fractured.

His final post on X, formerly Twitter, shortly before his death, ended: “Scotland is a country not a county”.

In his later years, Mr Salmond was locked in a legal battle with the government he formerly led, winning more than £500,000 in court after it was found an investigation into harassment complaints against him was “tainted by apparent bias”.

In November 2023, Mr Salmond announced he would be taking further action, warning a “day of reckoning” for the Scottish Government was coming as he named former first minister – and political protegee – Nicola Sturgeon and ex-permanent secretary Leslie Evans in the case, accusing both of “misfeasance”.

Kenny MacAskill, the acting leader of Alba, said it was now up to Mr Salmond’s family whether to continue the legal case against the Scottish Government.