A 38-year-old woman from the Comoros jumped from the 13th floor of a tower in Toulon’s Pontcarral neighborhood on Wednesday morning with three of her children aged three, four and six.
The bodies were found at the foot of the building at dawn. The mother, named Makoutoum and born in 1987, lived alone with her seven minor children. According to Toulon prosecutor Raphaël Balland, she had recently shown psychiatric and depressive symptoms.
The three children died at the scene, except the three-year-old girl who jumped into her mother’s arms and did not die immediately. An investigation has been opened for “murders by ascendant”.
The mother’s second partner, living in Marseille, is being sought by authorities. The four older children were hospitalized at Sainte-Musse hospital and are receiving psychological support.
