MIRI, MALAYSIA - A young man died after he was beaten up and impaled with a sharp weapon during a gangster-style attack by a group of youths in the city here.

The deceased, believed to be in his late 20s, sustained a gaping hole in his chest after he was believed to have been set upon by the gangsters in two vehicles at about 4am yesterday.

The victim, who was with a group of friends were in two cars when they were attacked near the city's main highway.

According to a police investigator, eyewitness accounts said that before the fatal attack, four vehicles were involved in a high-speed chase along the highway.

'Two cars were seen speeding and tailing two other cars in front of them. The four vehicles came to a stop after the two cars (giving chase) forced the two in front to the side of the road,' he said.

'A group of youths alighted from the two cars. Armed with what looked like steel weapons, they were shouting and screaming at each other and a fight ensued.

'Before long, the victim was seen slumped on his back. The assailants sped off before the police arrived,' he said.

A source said the police were investigating the possibility that the fatal attack might have been sparked by an earlier confrontation between the occupants of the four cars.

The police were also investigating the possibility that they had gathered somewhere else before the car-chase, possibly a bar or an entertainment centre.

Miri police chief Asst Comm Jamaluddin Ibrahim appealed to eyewitnesses to contact the nearest police station. --The Star