A pair of three-year-old twin brothers in New Delhi’s Rohini locality drowned in a washing machine on Saturday when their mother stepped out for a few minutes to buy detergent, PTI reported. According to the police, the mother had kept a pile of clothes next to the washing machine, and the children may have climbed the heap before falling inside the machine.

The two brothers – Nishant and Naksh – were playing near the machine, which was filled with about 15 litres of water. The mother realised they were out of detergent once she had switched on the washing machine and went to a nearby shop to buy it.

When she came back a few minutes later, she couldn’t find her sons and called her husband who was at work. The couple filed a missing complaint when they could not find the children after searching for 20 minutes, reported Hindustan Times. However, a few minutes later, the husband found them inside the washing machine.

“No bloodstains were found at the spot,” the police said according to The Indian Express. The boys were taken to Jaipur Golden Hospital, but were declared brought dead by the doctors.

MN Tiwari, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Rohini, said prima facie it appears to be an accident case. However, the bodies have been sent for postmortem and further action will be taken only after the autopsy report is out, he added.

The police were checking CCTV footage in the area to check if anyone had entered the house when the woman was away, DNA reported. The police said foul play cannot be ruled out, the report added.