IPOH: Police do not rule out the possibility that the child found unconscious in a washing machine in Kampung Sungai Tapah Tambahan, Manjoi, here, yesterday, may have climbed onto the washing machine and fallen into it.
District police chief, Assistant Commissioner Yahaya Hassan said the six-year-old child is believed to have fallen into the top-loading machine while it was in operation.
"It is still under investigation whether the victim fell into the machine while climbing it. However, we believe it might have happened that way.
"It is possible that the victim fell into the machine while it was in operation. At the time of the incident, there were clothes being washed but when the child was found by his grandmother, the washing machine had already stopped operating," he said.
According to him, during the incident at around 9.30am yesterday, other family members, apart from the victim's grandmother, were asleep.
He also mentioned that the victim, who was brought in unconscious to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun from his home, received emergency heart and respiratory assistance from the hospital medical staff but was pronounced dead at 11.02am yesterday.
Earlier, it was reported that a grandmother found her six-year-old grandchild unconscious inside a washing machine at their home before the child was confirmed dead.
The results of the post-mortem examination conducted at the hospital's Forensic Department yesterday found that the cause of death was due to head injuries caused by a blunt object (blunt trauma of the head).
The case is being investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 (Act 611).