A housewife fell to her death after slipping on the edge of a lake here this morning, after saving a tortoise.

Ipoh police chief ACP Sum Chang Keong said the incident occurred at about 9.30am when the victim Chin Ah Looi, 57, who was exercising in Bandar Seri Botani near Simpang Pulai, saw the tortoise.

"The victim then tried to save the tortoise and release it into the lake.

"While the victim was standing at the edge of the lake, she slipped and fell and she was believed to have been pierced by a piece of mangrove wood before falling into the lake," he said in a statement here, tonight.

Sum said an auxiliary policeman who saw the incident tried to pull the victim to safety before cotacting the ambulance and police station for help.

He said the victim was pronounced dead by a medical team after arriving at the the scene, and the body was taken to the Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun Forensics Department for an autopsy.

He said the autopsy revealed that the death was caused by chest injury due to stab wound.

"The investigation also found no trace of criminal elements, and the case has been classified as sudden death," said Sum. - BERNAMA