Police find bodies of five children in a house in German town

Five children were found dead in Germany today after their mother allegedly killed them before trying to take her own life. 

The bodies were discovered at an apartment building in Solingen, 20 miles from Cologne in western Germany.   

According to Bild, a 27-year-old mother is suspected of killing the five youngsters before jumping in front of a train but surviving with serious injuries. 

The five dead children were said to be one, two, three, six and eight years old, while an 11-year-old was uninjured.  

German police have found the bodies of five children in a building in the town of Soligen, local media said today (pictured, emergency vehicles in front of the house) 

Emergency personnel were called to the house on Thursday afternoon, apparently by the children’s grandmother. 

One report said that rescuers had tried to resuscitate the children but arrived too late to save their lives. The youngest was an 18-month-old girl. 

The mother is believed to have jumped on the tracks at the central station in Duesseldorf, 20 miles from Solingen, but survived and is now in hospital. 

German railway operator DB said there were track closures in Duesseldorf because an emergency doctor had been needed on the track.  

A police spokesman at the house said it was a ‘tragic situation’, adding that the mother was not yet in a fit state to be questioned.  

The bodies were discovered at an apartment building in Solingen, 20 miles from Cologne in western Germany

‘We are assuming a crime was committed. How and why that happened, we cannot say,’ the spokesman told broadcaster WDR. 

Authorities in nearby Wuppertal are investigating the children’s deaths, with dozens of officers and a fleet of emergency vehicles outside the building.  

Police say further details will be revealed later today, but how the children died is not yet known.

Jürgen Hardt, a member of the German parliament, said he had reacted in ‘horror’ when he heard the news of the children’s deaths. 

‘I wish the emergency services and the police strength as they deal with the case, which will affect them deeply as well,’ he said.