Hong Kong(CNN) Police in Malaysia say they are investigating the death of a woman whose decomposing body was discovered in a travel bag at an abandoned bus station.

A passerby found the bag near a building belonging to the state electricity company Tenaga Nasional Berhad earlier this week in Kulai, a district in the southern state of Johor, state news agency Bernama reported.

Kulai district police chief Tok Beng Yeow said the highly decomposed state of the body — which he estimated at more than 50 per cent — had hampered initial identification efforts, according to Bernama.

However, a preliminary post-mortem report by Sultanah Aminah Hospital suggested the body belonged to a woman over 25 years of age, who had sustained a head injury and may have died around two weeks ago.

The district police chief said an investigation is ongoing as he appealed to local residents to come forward with information.