The mum believed to have killed her five children before throwing herself in front of a train reportedly set the breakfast table before drugging and smothering the kids.
It is claimed that the children’s mum, who has been named only as Christiane K, was left “overwhelmed” when she split from her husband.
German police are continuing to investigate the massacre with the prime suspect being the children’s mum.
The children – aged between 1 and 8 – were all found dead by police at the family’s flat in Solingen, western Germany. The victims have been named as Luca, 8, and Timo, 6, Sophie, 3, Leonie 2, and Melina who was just 1.
The woman’s eldest son Marcel survived the massacre.
Christiane K. and eldest son Marcel
It is believed the children were killed on Wednesday night, September 2, and the next day Christiane K. and Marcel travelled on a train to Dusseldorf – 20 miles from their home.
Christiane K reportedly texted her mum at around lunchtime and said, “send the police to the apartment, the children are dead”.
Marce was left on the train as his mum got off and threw herself onto the tracks at Dusseldorf Central Station.
The boy is reported to have stayed on the train until he got to his grandma’s house about 30 miles away in Mönchengladbach. Police said he was not harmed and is currently in the care of relatives.
Meanwhile, the mum was rescued by firefighters but remains in a serious condition.
Chief investigator Marcel Maierhofer said that when the police arrived, the kids were all found lying on their beds with the breakfast dishes still on the kitchen table.
Outside the house where the children were found dead
Prosecutors have said new toxicology reports indicate the children were suffocated after being sedated with an “unknown agent”.
The mum is then believed to have gone with her oldest son Marcel, 11, to Dusseldorf where she attempted suicide by throwing herself under a train.
Mr Maierhofer said she is believed to have “carried out the act while she was feeling emotionally overwhelmed, and that too is the motive”.
Police believe she became distressed after splitting from her third husband one year ago and suffered deteriorating mental health, reports Bild.
Cops who entered the flat to make the grim discovery on Thursday, September 3, are reported to have broken down in tears.
“When the police and rescue workers came out crying, it was clear to us that something bad must have happened,” one resident told Pledge Times.
Cops were also said to be shocked by the state of the family’s living conditions in the rundown flat.
Neighbours lit candles for the children as they held vigils outside the apartment block. Photos show flowers and stuffed animals placed close to the scene.
One message simply reads “why?” in German.
Neighbours have asked “how desperate do you have to be to kill your own children?”.
Detectives are due to interview the mum once she has recovered in hospital.
Cops do not know why she spared her oldest son.
German media reports Marcel messaged a friend on Thursday afternoon on WhatsApp.
He wrote: “I just wanted to tell you that you won’t see me anymore because all of my siblings are dead.”
The friend initially thought it was a dark joke until he went to the family’s apartment and found it completely sealed off by police.
Four of the children were from the mother’s most recent marriage and two from an earlier relationship.
Cops are in contact with both fathers and neither are suspected of any wrongdoing in the case. The 27-year-old mother is assumed to be responsible.
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