Authorities are investigating the shocking death of a three-year-old girl who was found in the washing machine of her family’s Paris apartment last week.
The child was located in the northeast of the French capital on Thursday night, the city’s prosecutor’s office said.
The tragedy emerged after the girl’s father had dinner with his 37-year-old wife and one of their children, Le Parisien reports.
It is understood that at the end of the meal, the parents became concerned about the girl’s prolonged absence.
The entire family then embarked on a search for her in the apartment and its surrounds, and asked neighbours for help.
According to Le Parisien, the girl had only turned three less than a week before her death and was found in the washing machine at about 10.30pm in the family’s Paris 20th arrondissement apartment.
When the family finally discovered their daughter, she was already in a critical condition, and the father urgently called emergency services for medical help
She was declared dead shortly after 11.30pm.
The father, aged 48, has declared the door of the washing machine was shut when the family members located her.
The household appliance was not turned on, the newspaper reports.
Early details have suggested that it could be linked to suffocation and there were no signs of violence on her body, according to reports.
The autopsy is yet to take place.
A source told Le Parisien the parents had five children, including the girl involved in this horrible incident.
“The eldest is 18 years old, then there are the sons between seven and 16 years old and finally the victim,” they said, adding that the girl’s parents were also unaware of where their other four children were during dinner.
A unit specialising in the protection of minors is leading the investigation.
