Authorities in Bijie, Guizhou Province confirmed on Thursday that four children who were left alone at home in the city died from drinking a bottle of pesticide on Tuesday night.
The four siblings, one boy and three girls, were aged from 5 and 13. They were found lying on the ground with an empty pesticide bottle beside them at home by their granduncle Zhang Shigui on Tuesday, news site thepaper.cn reported.
Zhang said that the four lived by themselves. Their father, Zhang Fangqi, works outside Guizhou and their mother was "taken" three years ago.
The four had dropped out of school due to financial difficulties, and they only subsisted on corn planted by their father last year, Zhang said.
However, their aunt, Zhang Fangyou, told the China Youth Daily that the father had been sending 700 yuan ($113) every month for the children.
The Qixingguan district government said that they have not reached the father and that the Bijie police is still investigating the case, thepaper.cn reported.
In November 2012, five homeless children died from carbon monoxide poisoning to shelter from the cold in a trash bin in Bijie.
A total of 6.3 million rural residents from Guizhou work in other provinces, leaving behind nearly 1.2 million children at home, according to the China News Service.
