Sabtu 20 Dec 2014 20:09 WIB

Australian woman arrested in deaths of 8 children

Foto: AP/Graeme Bint

Police patrol near a house where eight children have been found dead in a Cairns suburb in far north Queensland, Australia, Friday Dec 19, 2014.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SYDNEY -- An Australian woman was arrested in the killings of eight children, seven of whom are believed to be her own, police said Saturday. The children were found dead inside the woman's home.

The 37-year-old woman, who is recovering in a hospital from stab wounds, was under guard and speaking with police, Queensland Police Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said. She has not yet been charged.

Police haven't said how the children died. But Asnicar said they're examining several knives in the home that may have been the weapon used to kill them. The children were identified as four girls and four boys, ranging in ages from 2 to 14 years old, Asnicar said. The woman is thought to be the mother of seven of the children. The eighth is believed to be her niece.

Queensland police were called to the home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries. When they got to the house, they found the bodies of the children.

The woman, whose name has not been released, was also found in the home with the children, suffering from stab wounds to the chest. Asnicar said she was in stable condition, lucid and talking to police.

"We're not looking for anybody else — we're comfortable that the community at large is safe," Asnicar said.

A coroner was conducting autopsies to determine the causes of death, and police were continuing to comb through the house for evidence.

"They're looking to establish 100 percent what happened in that house when these offenses were committed," Asnicar said.

He dismissed rumors that the house had been the subject of calls from the Department of Social Services.

"It's not a problem house as has been speculated," he said. "This is an ordinary neighborhood — a lot of good people, a lot of kids in the area. This is something that has caught everybody by surprise. It's just an absolutely tragic thing."

Lisa Thaiday, who said she was the injured woman's cousin, said earlier that one of the woman's other sons, a 20-year-old, came home and found his brothers and sisters dead inside the house.

"The news out of Cairns is heartbreaking," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a statement. "All parents would feel a gut-wrenching sadness at what has happened. This is an unspeakable crime. These are trying days for our country."