A Bangladeshi youth was found dead while his friend unconscious at a bus stop of Jalan Chain Feri at Penang in Malaysia.

Passers-by found the two, in their 30s, lying on a bench around 6:50pm Monday, reports Malaysian state news agency Barnama.

Seberang Perai Tengah (SPT) deputy police chief, Supt Baharom Abu, told the news agency that policemen who responded to the case called in paramedics who confirmed that one of them had died while the other man was rushed to the Seberang Jaya Hospital.

The body was also sent to the same hospital.

Baharom said on recovering consciousness that they arrived in Penang 17 days ago and had been promised jobs by a labour syndicate.

He said the duo did not have valid travel documents and had been dropped off at the bus stop by a member of the syndicate.

The man was also not able to shed light on what had happened and only became aware of his surroundings at the hospital, he said

"There were no signs of injuries on them. We have classified the death as sudden death pending the post-mortem report," he added.