Woman and her four young children are found dead in Paris suburb as police hunt ‘on-the-run’ father, 33

  • The bodies were found on Monday evening in the quiet suburb of Meaux

A woman and her four young children were found dead in an apartment near Paris on Christmas Day, a prosecutor has said.

Following the grim discovery, a murder investigation has now been launched, with police hunting the children's 33-year-old father, who is not only suspected of their murders but is also said to be 'on the run'.

The bodies were found on Monday evening in the quiet suburb of Meaux, 40 kilometers northeast of the French capital, police said.

Prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier confirmed that the Versailles judicial police were investigating.

The bodies were found around 9 p.m., while the victims lay in the family apartment on Adam-de-la-Halle Square, according to reports in ACTU17.

A woman and her four young children were found dead in an apartment near Paris on Christmas Day, a prosecutor said (pedestrian shopping street in central Meaux)

Following the grim discovery, a murder investigation has now been launched, with police hunting the children's 33-year-old father, who is said to be 'on the run' (aerial view of Meaux's Saint Etienne Cathedral)

Following the grim discovery, a murder investigation has now been launched, with police hunting the children's 33-year-old father, who is said to be 'on the run' (aerial view of Meaux's Saint Etienne Cathedral)

The French publication adds that the father – who has not been named – is already known to police. The causes of the deaths are not yet known.

The prosecutor said another press conference will take place later today.

A series of child murders have recently occurred in the Paris region.

In late November, a 41-year-old man confessed to killing his three daughters, aged between four and 11, and turned himself in.

Police found them dead at his home in the town of Alfortville, in the capital's southeastern suburbs.

A month earlier, in October, a gendarme killed his three daughters before committing suicide at his home in Vemars in Val-d'Oise.