Three-year-old dies of asphyxiation after elder sibling locks him inside washing machine

Three-year-old dies of asphyxiation after elder sibling locks him inside washing machine

A three-year-old boy suffocated and died after his elder sibling "shut him inside" a washing machine while his parents were sleeping. The couple got up in the middle of the night to find that the child was not next to them before finding his breathless body in the machine.

The incident is said to have taken place in Gubkinsky, a Russian town with a population of just 23,000-odd people that is located on the left bank of the Pyakapur River, south of Salekhard, on December 13. The Investigative Committee of Russia's Investigative Directorate for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug reported that an ambulance was called to the residence and that a pre-investigation probe has been launched by the authorities.

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The incident took place in the Russian town of Gubkinsky (Source: Google Maps)
The incident took place in the Russian town of Gubkinsky (Source: Google Maps)

According to the Daily Mail, the victim was helped out of the cot by his elder sibling so the two could play a game. Then, during the game, the sibling — whose age and sex has not been revealed — is believed to have shut the three-year-old inside the washing machine.

Speaking about the incident, local law enforcement official Elena Demyanova said that the investigators had "established that the spouses found their small son missing from his cot when they woke," and that "according to the parents, they found their son in the washing machine." The cause of the boy's death was stated as asphyxia, and further investigations are currently underway.