Johannesburg - Four children have been found dead inside a freezer in Ermelo, Mpumalanga police said on Wednesday.
The three boys and a girl, aged between four and seven, were last seen playing outside a house on Tuesday afternoon, said Brigadier Selvy Mohlala.
“They were last seen at 1.30pm, and their bodies were discovered around 5.30pm,” he said.
“The allegation is that they went into a room attached to the house outside and they found a deep freezer there. It is believed they went or jumped inside it and it closed.”
Mohlala said they suffocated, but a post-mortem was yet to be carried out.
He said it was a normal deep freezer that could have closed “air tight” after they were inside it.
The children were not siblings. Some were neighbours, he said.
Police had opened an inquest into the circumstances of the incident. - Sapa