A Malaysian man was killed Friday when a relative mistook him for a wild boar and shot him with a pellet gun, the state news agency Bernama reported.

Ajun Imang Jau, 53, from a village in Sarawak state on Borneo island, was visiting relatives when he was invited on a hunting party by his wife's uncle, the report said.

The uncle later returned to inform the villagers that he had shot Ajun after mistaking him for a wild boar.

He was shot five times in the abdomen. A police spokesman told Bernama that officers were carrying out an investigation at the scene.