Man found dead in car with burning coal inside

A barbeque set was placed inside the car, with its coal still burning.

KOTA KINABALU: A businessman was found dead in his car after he was believed to have locked himself in with a lit barbeque set with burning coal, at the Tanjung Aru beach near here Friday (Jan 5) evening.

The businessman, Liew Ka Ket, 42, was discovered by policemen conducting patrols at the area, and was later pronounced dead by medical officials who arrived at the scene.

Kota Kinabalu police chief Asst Comm M. Chandra said two policemen saw the car parked suspiciously in the bushes at 5.27pm, and when they went to check, found the man inside.

"The policemen tried to force open the doors but could not as it was locked from the inside, and had to wait for firemen to arrive before it could be broken into," he said.

ACP Chandra said upon inspection, the policemen found a barbeque set placed inside the car, with its coal still burning.

"Liew is believed to have suffocated from the smoke from the coal and died," he added.

Medical officials who arrived at the scene at about 6.20pm found no traces of injury on Liew.

He was later taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a postmortem.