A five-month-old baby died on Monday after he was hit with an iron bar during a fight at Tshing near Ventersdorp, North West police said.

Karabo Modise was on her 27-year-old mother's back when she was involved in a fight with another woman, said Superintendent Lesego Metsi.

The woman, in her early thirties, tried to hit her with the iron bar but it instead landed on Karabo.

Later that day, said Metsi, both mother and child went to sleep.

She only realised her baby was dead when she woke up and alerted the police, he said.

It is not known what the fight was about.

Metsi said a post mortem would be conducted to determine the cause of death, adding that a murder case was being investigated.

Sapa