A 25-year-old man from Cospicua died yesterday morning after choking on his breakfast cereal, according to police sources.

The lifeless body of Special Olympics athlete Umberto Latina was discovered by his aunt at about 9 a.m. at his residence at Triq Id-Dejqa, investigators told The Times.

It is believed that Mr Latina, who was an avid football fan  was eating his breakfast alone at home while his mother was at work.

Alerted by his absence from work, his concerned colleagues tried contacting him at home and raised the alarm with his relatives when they received no reply.

Mr Latina’s aunt went to the house where she discovered her nephew dead, a police spokesman confirmed. A huge fan of Italian football club Juventus, Mr Latina was nicknamed Nedved – after retired Czech player Pavel Nedved (whom he somewhat resembled). He played for the Malta Special Olympics football team that placed second in an international tournament in Portugal two years ago. As news of his death emerged, a Facebook page was set up with nearly 2,000 people expressing shock and horror at his sudden death.

Duty Magistrate Giovanni Grixti appointed experts to conduct an inquiry.

In a somewhat similar case on May 11 last year, Robert Sultana, 26, a criminal lawyer, died after he choked on food while at a barbecue with friends. His father Victor Sultana had then called for more public awareness about simple but effective first aid procedures that could have saved his son’s life.

“A lot of people don’t know what first aid is about,” Prof. Sultana had told The Sunday Times.

“I was not there but I’m sure that with better first aid knowledge, this might have been avoided... When it happens, people panic and don’t know what to do,” said Prof. Sultana, a retired doctor.