SYDNEY- Eight children have been killed and a woman who was mother to seven of them was injured in the northern Australian city of Cairns, police said today.
Australia is in a state of heightened alert after police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday to end a 16-hour hostage standoff in which three people were killed, including the hostage-taker.
Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said police believed the woman was the mother of seven of the children.
"There is no formal suspect," Asnicar told.
The woman, aged 34, was receiving treatment for her injuries, police said, and was assisting them with their investigation.
Forensics officers have locked down the scene and there has been no formal identification of the children.
While unrelated to the mass stabbing in tropical Cairns, the Sydney siege has triggered an outpouring of grief, with shocked Australians laying thousands of bouquets of flowers at a makeshift shrine in a central city mall near the siege cafe.