The bodies of eight children, aged 18 months to 15 years, and a wounded woman were discovered in a home in northern Australia on Friday, the police said.
The police in Australia do not typically name suspects. They, however, said say they did not believe a murderer is at large and that they were talking to the woman, who was found stabbed in the chest. She is believed to be the mother of seven of the dead children, the police said.
The eighth dead child is also believed to be related to the 34-year-old wounded woman, Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said. The woman was receiving treatment for her injuries and was in stable condition at a hospital.
Queensland State police said they were called to the home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries.Mr. Asnicar declined to say how the children died. “As it stands at the moment, there’s no need for the public to be concerned about this other than the fact that it’s a tragic, tragic event. The situation is well controlled at the moment. There shouldn’t be any concern for anyone else out of this environment.”
Lisa Thaiday, who said she was the injured woman’s cousin, said one of the woman’s other sons, a 20-year-old, came home and found his brothers and sisters dead inside the house. “I’m going to see him now, he needs comforting,” Ms. Thaiday said. “We’re a big family ... I just can’t believe it. We just found out [about] those poor babies.”
The tragedy comes as Australia is still reeling from the shock of a deadly siege in a Sydney cafe earlier this week.