Three Malaysian soldiers were killed and four injured early Saturday after a 30 metre tree fell on their camp in a forest reserve, a top military official said.

General Fazlurrahman Mohamad Irfan said the incident happened in the Belum rainforest park in northern Kedah state, according to the official Bernama news agency, following two days of continuous rain.

The victims were aged between 20 to 25 years-old and from the 21st Malay Regiment based in Kelantan, he said, adding that the soldiers were on a regular jungle deploment.

Three of the injured are now in a local hospital.

The incident comes just weeks after three Malaysian paratroopers including two women died at sea and 11 were injured during a training exercise for an airshow on the resort island of Langkawi.