Australian authorities have charged Mersane Warria, a woman in the northern city of Cairns with the murder of seven of her children and her niece.
The 37-year old 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.
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.
However, a church service was held on Sunday morning to remember the children.
Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, said in a statement that it was an “unspeakable crime.”
These are “trying days for our country,” he added.
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