SERDANG, Malaysia - An 11-year-old boy was killed when he was run over by a school van while trying to retrieve a water tumbler under the vehicle on Thursday afternoon.

The van was driven by a 37-year-old man who had dropped the boy off at his house at Block Cempaka, Desa Minium apartment near Seri Kembangan here after school.

"According to the driver's statement, he saw the boy walking towards the lift lobby. A few minutes later he drove away but realised he had hit something.

"When the driver got down to inspect, he saw the boy lying motionless in a pool of blood and realised that his front tyre had run over the boy's body," Serdang OCPD Supt Abdul Razak Elias said.

The driver said the boy could have returned to pick up his water tumbler which had fallen and rolled under the van.

The apartment's security guard rushed the boy to Serdang Hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A post-mortem revealed the boy died from serious injuries and internal bleeding in the chest and abdomen.

Supt Abdul Razak said police had recorded the driver's statement, and the case was investigated under Section 43(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.