A nine-year-old boy from Yelizovo, Russia's Kamchatka region, has died after being trapped inside a washing machine when he was left home alone.

Based on the marks on his elbows and back, it's suspected that the boy, who hasn't been named, had tried desperately to escape, Mirror reports.

According to the Russian Investigative Committee, the nine-year-old's mother had returned from work and couldn't find her son. She finally saw him behind the closed door of the washing machine, Daily Mail reports.

When she pulled the boy out, she realised that he didn't have a heartbeat and immediately called an ambulance.

Russian detectives are trying to determine whether the boy was forced into the washing machine by an intruder or climbed in deliberately. Detectives speculate that he climbed into the washing machine voluntarily, as there were no signs of a forced entry.

"Her son was lying inside without showing any signs of life," Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.

Forensic tests will be conducted in order to discover the cause of death.

The little boy's mother claims he was fine when she'd called him after 15:00 to check if he was home safely from school.

She arrived home at 18:00 to find the boy dead.

Sources: Mirror, Daily Mail, Komsomolskaya Pravda