I the 1950s there was a series of similar, but no the same, deadly tragedies. Then, however, the killing instruments were old refrigerators and ice boxes. Kids would climb into them, close the doors and SNAP! the doors’ latches would lock and the the trapped kids would suffocate. That’s why NO refrigerators, freezers, or ice boxes have mechanical latches today; instead all the closures are magnetic. I know this because I was in grade school and high school during the 1950s.
Yes, and if you through them out you either had to remove the door, or lock a chain around it. I remember seeing many thrown away in one or the other of those conditions.
Hide & Seek is a very dangerous game, I would never let my kid play that.