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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Australia Cairns: Mother charged with eight murders | Australia Cairns: Mother charged with eight murders |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Australian authorities have charged a woman in the northern city of Cairns with the murder of seven of her children and her niece. | Australian authorities have charged a woman in the northern city of Cairns with the murder of seven of her children and her niece. |
| Mersane Warria, 37, was charged while in hospital where she is being treated under guard for self-inflicted knife wounds, police say. | Mersane Warria, 37, was charged while in hospital where she is being treated under guard for self-inflicted knife wounds, police say. |
| Post-mortem examinations are being carried out to determine the exact cause of the eight victims' deaths. | |
| The four boys and four girls were aged between 18 months and 14 years. | |
| Police found a number of weapons at the scene, including knives, which are being examined. | Police found a number of weapons at the scene, including knives, which are being examined. |
| Officers said they were looking at various possibilities for the deaths, including suffocation. | |
| The bodies were reportedly discovered by the mother's 20-year-old son arriving at the home on Friday morning. | The bodies were reportedly discovered by the mother's 20-year-old son arriving at the home on Friday morning. |
| Police have dismissed reports the family had been investigated by social services saying it was "not a problem house". | Police have dismissed reports the family had been investigated by social services saying it was "not a problem house". |
| Memorials have sprung up outside the home in the Manoora district of Cairns. | Memorials have sprung up outside the home in the Manoora district of Cairns. |
| A church service was held on Sunday morning to remember the children. | |
| Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a statement it was an "unspeakable crime". | Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a statement it was an "unspeakable crime". |
| These were "trying days for our country", he added. | These were "trying days for our country", he added. |