In a freak tragedy, four children were found suffocated to death in a stationary car after its doors got locked, trapping them.

Two girls, aged ten and eight, and two boys, both aged four, were found dead in the car, one of several vehicles seized by a bank for default in loan repayment and kept at a yard in Vedanatham near here, police said.

The children had come to the place for a temple function along with their parents and were playing in a nearby area.

"They were playing in the vicinity and had later got into a car. It seems the car's doors got locked automatically. They suffocated to death," a police official said adding further investigation was on.

When the parents searched for the children, they were directed to the yard by some persons, who had earlier seen them going towards the yard, police said.