Five boys, all around 10 years old, who were found dead Friday morning in a garbage bin in the city of Bijie, Guizhou Province, were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, according to an initial investigation statement released by the publicity department of the CPC Bijie City Committee on Sunday.
The carbon monoxide, which was released from a fire keeping them warm on Thursday night, killed them after traces of fire were found in the bin, said the statement. The local police had already ruled out murder as the cause of tragedy.
Tang Guangxing, deputy director of the department, told the Global Times Sunday that further investigations were still underway.
"The city's police are now cooperating with the provincial public security department on the case," said Tang.
An anonymous press officer from the department was quoted by the Beijing News as saying Sunday that these boys were first discovered by an old female garbage collector.
The identity of three of the boys has been confirmed. All three were locals from the city. The identity of the other two is still under investigation, said the statement.
This was after a staff member from the city's funeral home told the Global Times earlier that bodies of the five victims were still there.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling