SEREMBAN, MALAYSIA - A 26-year-old mother and her two young sons, who consumed an overdose of pills on Wednesday, are showing signs of recovery.

Seremban Hospital director Dr Jaafar Che Mat said the woman and her sons, aged 5 and 6, had been moved from the intensive care unit to a normal ward.

He said the children had regained consciousness but their mother was still in a coma.

"We have moved them from the ICU for now, but if the mother does not wake up soon, we may have to readmit her to the ICU."

Tampin police chief Superintendent Zull Aznam Haron said statements were recorded yesterday from the woman's husband and his mother-in-law.

The woman, a rubber tapper, is believed to have forced her children, including her 9-month-old daughter, to swallow 60 pills before consuming some herself.

The woman is said to have taken the pills after her husband, a wiring contractor, left their home and went to stay at his mother's house on Tuesday night.

Initial investigations showed that the pills belonged to the woman's mother, who took the controlled drugs for a psychiatric-related illness.