Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh), Jun 16 (IANS): In a tragic incident, four children accidentally locked themselves in a car and two of them died due to suffocation. Two other children have been hospitalised in a critical condition.

The incident took place in Veerpur area under Mundha Pandey police station.

The family had purchased a second-hand car on Sunday and the kids managed to unlock the car and get in on Monday afternoon. The car got locked and the children could not come out.

It was only when the children did not return for several hours, that their families started looking for them. Someone spotted them lying inside the car.

All of them were rushed to the hospital where two children were declared dead on arrival.

The deceased include Mohammed Altaf (5), and Abshar Raza (7), who were cousins while the other two, Mohammed Aftab (6) and Mohammed Alfaiz (4) are critical.

The police said the kids were locked inside the car for a couple of hours and are suspected to have choked due to the lack of oxygen.

Moradabad superintendent of police (city) Amit Kumar Anand said, "The families got to know about the incident after the kids, who had gone outside to play on Monday, did not return for hours. They began to look for them when the kids were spotted lying unconscious inside the car parked right outside their house. All of them were rushed to a hospital where two of them were declared brought dead. There is no foul play in the incident."