Forensic investigators were trying to identify the culprit through CCTV recordings, Dang Wangi police chief Shaharuddin Abdullah was reported as saying.
He said no suspect had been arrested thus far.
The woman, Liu Ling, 55, fell on the footpath and hit her head on the curb while making her way from the Islamic Arts Museum at Jalan Perdana to the mosque just before noon yesterday.
She suffered a 4cm gash on her head.
Security video showed a motorcyclist making a U-turn and riding on the pavement to approach the victim from behind. “He tried to snatch her bag, but failed as she had it slung around her body, and then fled the scene,” he said.
Liu, who has remained unconscious since then, is now on life-support at Kuala Lumpur Hospital. Emergency surgery was carried out to remove blood clots from her trauma wounds.
Shaharuddin said she had entered the country on April 15 and was travelling alone. Her family is expected to arrive within a day or two.