2 children die in Franklin after accidentally locking themselves in hope chest

Two children died in Franklin, Mass., after they accidentally locked themselves inside a hope chest while playing, authorities said. The incident happened Sunday in the home of the victims, who were identified as a brother and sister, both less than 10 years of age, the Boston Globe reported. "Investigation to this point indicates that the children were found by family members shortly before 8 p.m. enclosed together in a hope chest fashioned with a lid that could only be released from the outside, and not opened from within," Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey's office said in a statement Monday. Other family members were home at the time of the incident, but "the hope chest was in relatively close proximity to a television that was apparently on with a substantial volume at the time," the statement said. The incident is currently being considered an accident, prosecutors said.