Two young Greek boys whose disappearance prompted a nationwide alert, died of starvation and dehydration when they became trapped in a broken elevator in an empty building, authorities said yesterday.
A coroner concluded that the brothers - six-year-old Aihan and eight-year-old Amet Ceribasi - had survived for up to five days in the elevator before dying, hospital officials said.
Authorities issued a nationwide alert for the brothers after they disappeared in the northeastern city of Orestiada on May 28. Police later arrested and jailed their father and another couple on suspicion of having sold the boys, who were two of about 10 siblings.
Late on Thursday, a woman alerted police to a strong smell coming from a newly-constructed but empty apartment building near where the boys disappeared. Authorities found the brothers' bodies in an elevator, which was stuck between the second and third floor.
Christos Nikolopoulos, a regional police chief, said the boys were found naked but bore no visible injuries. A small window on the elevator door had been broken, and the boys' shorts and shoes were found on the floor outside, he said.
Police believe the children broke the window and threw their clothes out in an attempt to attract the attention of anyone entering the building. It was not immediately clear how they had become trapped in the elevator.
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