The man who attacked and attempted to stab Malian President Assimi Goita last week has died in hospital while in the custody of security services, the government said in a statement on Sunday.

“During the investigations … his state of health deteriorated,” the statement said. “He was taken to hospital, where he died.” 

According to the government, an investigation is underway to determine the cause of death.

Mr Goita had escaped the attacks last week when two armed men, one holding a knife, attacked him at the Great Mosque during prayers for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha in Bamako.

Security officers had taken the man into the back of a military pickup truck, Reuters reported. 

Mr Goita had dismissed the attack in a televised address shortly after the incident, describing it as an isolated action.

“Everything is fine. There is no problem. It’s part of being a leader,” Mr Goita told state television, “There are always people who are unhappy. There are people who will try to destabilise.”

The public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Bamako had announced that an investigation would be opened to look into the “attack on state security” and “attempted murder,” though Malian investigators ruled out terrorism as a motivation in the attack, it noted that the suspect had been trained to handle weapons and had not been acting alone.