Double tragedy in Malaysia as father dies in sleep, smothers baby

A family in Malaysia has suffered a heartbreaking double tragedy after a baby was smothered by his father, who had died in his sleep from a heart attack and rolled onto his child.

Three-month-old Muhammad Nur Daniel Nuruleffendy was pronounced dead by hospital officials in Melaka state, not long after he was brought in unconscious by his mother on Thursday morning.

Azura Abdul Mallik, 40, found her third child on her bed with his face under her husband’s right arm after coming back from her office at about 9.30am to take him for a check-up at a nearby clinic.

Both Daniel and her husband, Nuruleffendy Ibrahim, 35, were unconscious but the baby was still breathing at the time.

Nuruleffendy’s sister, Masturadiana Ibrahim, said she learned of the incident only after Azura came to her house frantically asking for help.

“She knocked repeatedly and called out my name saying: ‘Help me, help me!’,” Masturadiana, who lives opposite her brother and his family, told reporters at the Melaka general hospital.