Police in Moldova are investigating the death of a six-week-old baby who apparently drowned during his baptism.

The boy's relatives said he died after swallowing water during the ceremony last Friday in a village.

In the Orthodox religion, babies are baptised by being briefly immersed three times in water. Priests hold the infant's mouths and noses.

Film shot by relatives shows the baby moving after being taken out of the font, but then suffering difficulty breathing as he is dressed. Twenty minutes later, he started bleeding from his nose and mouth and died.

A church spokeswoman said the priest who performed the baptism was being investigated for manslaughter.