MALACCA, MALAYSIA: A 24-year-old man's attempt to catch a suspected robber who had tried to break into his house in Taman Pahlawan, Sungai Udang, ended in tragedy when he was fatally stabbed.

The incident happened at about 4.40am when the victim, Nasahrudin Ali, who had been watching television, heard someone trying to break into his house.

He gave chase but the person is believed to have stabbed Nasahrudin.

Nasahrudin was found lying in a pool of blood by his 50-year-old father Ali Daud.

"I heard the sound of flower pots breaking and looked out my window to see my son scaling the porch wall. I knew something was amiss when I saw a figure lying on the ground in the dark later," he said when met at the Malacca Hospital mortuary yesterday.

Ali, a retired army personnel, said he was shocked when he realised it was his son on the floor. He immediately rushed Nasahrudin to the Terendak Army Hospital nearby.

"I was devastated when the doctor informed me later that my only son was dead," he said.