The Catalan chef Santi Santamaria has died while on a visit to Singapore. His body has been taken to the General Hospital of Singapore where it will remain until it can be repatriated.

Santamaria died at around 8.30 pm yesterday local time (12:30 GMT) whilst on a visit to his restaurant run by his daughter in the Marina Bay area of Singapore. One of his employees notified the authorities about his death and contacted the Spanish embassy.

The Spanish embassy says that steps been taken to return the body of Santamaria to Spain.

The chef opened his first restaurant in Sant Celoni (Barcelona) in 1981 and won his third Michelin star in 1994 becoming the first Catalan chef to obtain such prestigious recognition.

According to diplomatic sources the death was due to natural causes although a post mortem will be carried out.