Poker: Russia's 'sexiest poker player' electrocuted at home drying her hair

Liliya Novikova has been found dead, after reportedly dying in a bizarre accident. Photo / Instagram

Russian poker player and Twitch streamer Liliya Novikova has been found dead in the bathroom of her Moscow apartment, with reports she was electrocuted while drying her hair.

Liliya Novikova died suddenly in her home in Russia. Photo / Instagram

Russia's Investigative Committee is investigating, with local reports suggesting the 26-year-old's death was accidental.

"During the initial examination, traces of an electrical injury were found on the victim's body," an official told Russian news agency TASS.

Novikova was widely known in online poker circles by her username liay5.

Russia's Channel 5 mourned the death of the country's "sexiest poker player".

She regularly appeared on gaming social media platform Twitch, where she had a community of nearly 25,000 who subscribed to her live streams.

The 26-year-old was also active on Instagram, where she had a following of more than 16,000.

But when her family was unable to reach her on Tuesday, they became alarmed.

"Relatives became agitated when the girl stopped responding to phone calls and asked her neighbour to check on her," the Russian official told TASS.

"She found the girl's body."

Her death was announced on her official VK site, a Russian social media platform, on Wednesday.

"Leah passed away. Yesterday. Accident. She is no more. She left us," the translated post read.

News of her death prompted an outpouring of tributes from her international fanbase on a raft of social media platforms.

Liliya is thought to have suffered a massive electric shock. Photo / Instagram

Just heard news of Liay Novikova (Liay5) passing away. Poker and Twitch lost a great ambassador today. Really sad.

— Jaime Staples (@jaimestaples) June 12, 2019

Incredibly sad to hear Liay ‘liay5’ Novikova passed away due to a home accident. She had such a good influence on the poker/twitch community through her hard work and efforts. I’ve always admired all the many different things she did. What a tragic loss, and so young 🙏😢 RIP

— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) June 12, 2019

According to Russian news site Moskovsky Komsomolets, Novikova was a graduate of Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

She was known for her "outstanding intellect and deep mathematical knowledge", the outlet reported, which helped her succeed in poker circles.