A wooden box at a villager's home became a coffin for six children near Xi'an, Shaanxi Province after they hid in it while playing a game and were unable to open it again, reports Huashang Bao.

Seven children, between the ages of 2 and 9, were playing hide-and-seek at a villager's home during the day last Friday. When the kids failed to return their homes at dinner time, their parents set out on a search. They finally found the youngsters locked inside a large wooden box usually used to contain harvested grains.

Li Cong, the lone survivor, said they did not know how the cover of the box became locked. He said they screamed for help, but nobody heard them.

It appears that the old-fashioned lock might have dropped and become hooked when the lid fell closed.

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