Eight children aged between 18 months and 15 years have been found dead at a house in the Australian city of Cairns, police said Friday, Dec 19, reportedly after a gruesome mass stabbing, AFP reports.

"Cairns detectives have established a crime scene and begun an investigation into the death of eight children this morning," police said. "During an examination of the residence police located the bodies of the children, all aged between 18 months and 15 years."

A woman in her 30s was injured.

Reports widely said they children had been stabbed, although police did not immediately confirm this, according to AFP.