Tragic death of children in Lithuania

Four children died in an accident in the village of Deglenai, Lithuania's Pasvalys district. The children, three boys aged from 4 to 9 and a 5-year-old girl, were playing in a barn when they decided to hide in a large wooden chest. They climbed inside and the latch stuck as the lid slammed shut.

Parents, neighbours and police spent the whole day searching for the children. In the long run, someone hit upon an idea to look in the big ancient chest -- and discovered the bodies of four children, who had all died of suffocation.

In Lithuania, brides traditionally kept their trousseau, holiday clothes and jewellery in big wooden chests of the type described. There were times when every family had one. Nowadays, some people, especially in rural areas, still keep them.