Chinese street children AFP/Getty
Five children have been found dead inside a bin in southwest China after they climbed inside it to keep warm.
The children - who were all aged around 10 - died of carbon monoxide poisoning after burning charcoal inside the bin when overnight temperatures fell to 6c.
The tragic discovery was made by a refuse collector emptying the bins in the city of Bijie in Guizhou province.
Sky reports that uncredited online pictures of the bin suggest it was around 1.5 metres long and 1.3 metres wide, and was fitted with an airtight lid.
The Xinhua news agency says that post-mortems on the children confirmed that they had died from carbon monoxide poisoning, and that leftover burnt charcoal had been found inside the bin.
The boys' tragic death has caused anger amongst online communities, with posts on Chinese websites blaming both the local government of Bijie and the children's parents for their demise.
'It reminded me of The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. Isn't it that such things only happen in fairy tales?' a user called Saludika posted on the Sina Weibo microblogging site, while another poster wrote: 'What a cold world this must be for the five children.'
A further investigation into the case is now underway.