Police in Namibia are investigating the tragic deaths of four children who were found in an old, unused freezer in the north-eastern Zambezi Region.
The children, aged between three and six, were playing in the empty deep freezer in a densely populated area of Katima Mulilo when the incident occurred on Monday afternoon.
Authorities believe the children were accidentally trapped inside and suffocated, though a full investigation is ongoing.
Two of the children were found dead inside the freezer, while the other two were taken to the hospital but did not survive, according to reports from the public broadcaster.
Aranges Shoro, one of the grieving fathers, recounted the scene to The Namibian newspaper, saying, “When I arrived, paramedics were attending to my daughter and another girl.
They were rushed to the hospital, while the other two were taken in police mortuary vehicles.”
Zambezi regional police commander Andreas Shilelo told AFP that the freezer had a latch that could only be opened from the outside, leaving the children trapped for about an hour and a half.
“They suffocated inside,” he added. The two children rushed to the Katima Mulilo State Hospital were declared dead upon arrival, NBC reported.
The circumstances surrounding why the non-operational freezer was left outside one of the affected families’ homes remain unclear.
Source-BBC
