An actress' son fell to his death while pursuing a thief, who had broken into the Murni Titiwangsa Apartment, Keramat at noon today.

Edi Rizal Ramli, 33, a son of actress Norlia Ghani, was said to have slipped and fallen to the ground while trying to reach for the balcony of an apartment on the seventh floor.

His brother, Romiza, 36, said the incident happened when Edi Rizal went after a thief, who was said to have entered the unit by scaling a pipe.

"Edi earlier rushed to the seventh floor after being told that a thief was hiding in an apartment unit there after breaking into a unit on the eight floor.

"After trying unsuccessfully to enter the unit through the front door, Edi scaled the pipe to the seventh floor.

"He tried to grab a metal bar of the balcony but slipped and fell to the ground," Romiza told reporters at the Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) Forensic Department.

Edi Rizal, who suffered serious head injuries, was rushed to the HKL by neighbours and was pronounced dead on arrival.

Buried after post-mortem

His eldest brother, Rusdi, 39, who is also an actor, said Edi Rizal, who was single, would be buried at the Datuk Keramat Muslim Cemetery after a post-mortem.

"I was at home when I got a call from my youngest sibling (Emi Atkashira, 26), telling me that Edi had fallen from the apartment.

"As I was getting ready to go to mummy's (Norlia) place, I received another call from her, telling me to go to the HKL as Edi had died," said Rusdi.

Norlia's family stayed on the fourth floor of the apartment.

Kuala Lumpur deputy CID chief ACP Khairi Ahrasa, when contacted, said the police classified the case as sudden death.

- Bernama