BEIJING - An investigation into the mysterious death of two young sisters has been launched in eastern China after a family member claimed they died in a washing machine, police said Tuesday. Police in Jiangxi province said they received a call on Sunday enquiring about possible compensation payments for the family of two sisters aged two and three who died after climbing into a washing machine the day before. The caller said the sisters had already been buried, police in the provincial capital Nanchang said on their verified account on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter.
Earlier reports said police had ruled out murder in the case, but the statement made no mention of detectives excluding the possibility of foul play. Previous reports also said the sisters were aged two and four.