A 16-month-old boy is in intensive care after falling into a top-loading washing machine at his home in Kwai Chung yesterday.
The toddler fell into the machine as it was operating and his 26-year-old mother found him upside down in the water, police said.
He was in serious condition in Princess Margaret Hospital last night.
The boy and his mother were in their 21st-floor flat at Yan Shek House on Shek Yam Estate in Tung Chi Street when the incident happened shortly after 2pm. He went to the kitchen when his mother was tidying up in the living room.
Initial investigations indicated that the machine had not been switched on, a police officer said.
'We believe the toddler stood on a basket packed with clothes next to the machine, opened the cover and pressed buttons to start the machine before tumbling in,' the officer said.
'When his mother found he had disappeared from the living room, she went to the kitchen and found the boy head down in the machine.'
