• Horrifying massacre at a Cairns home just six days before Christmas
• Police have found the bodies of eight children at the Manoora home
• A 34-year-old woman has been taken to Cairns Base Hospital with stab wounds
• Her cousin Lisa Thaiday said the kids were all siblings and the woman was her mother

Distress: A woman, believed to be a neighbour, was seen visibly distressed near the Manoora property after eight children were confirmed dead

The bodies of eight children, believed to be siblings aged between 18 months and 15-years-old, have been found dead in a home in Cairns in a massacre just six days before Christmas.

A woman, 34, was also injured, believed to have suffered stab wounds to her upper body and neck. Her cousin, Lisa Thaiday, told AAP at the scene the woman was their mother.

Scores of detectives and forensic offices are swarming over the home on Murray St in Manoora, around 4km west of the town’s main tourist strip.

Ms Thaiday said another sibling, a 20-year-old man, arrived home to find his brothers and sisters dead inside the house. He is now being comforted by other family members.

‘I’m going to see him now, he needs comforting,’ Ms Thaiday said. She described the family and extended relatives as close-knit.

‘We’re a big family and most of us are from the (Torres) Strait,’ she said.

‘I just can’t believe it. We just found out (about) those poor babies.’

Seven News reporter Georgina McKerrow told Sky News a step-father was believed to be living at the premises.

Detectives rushed to the residence around 11:20am after they received reports a woman had suffered serious injuries.

The street has been branded a crime scene and the area has been locked down.

Murray St is located in a community housing-dominated area. The Cairns Post has described the street in the past as ‘notorious’ for crime and anti-social behaviour.

In July Murray Street was one of four identified by Cairns Regional Council as in need of permanent surveillance by CCTV cameras to ensure the safety of residents.

About 20 to 30 people, including neighbours and locals, could be seen to be visibly upset and comforting each other at the scene.

Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar described the horror crime as a ‘tragic, tragic incident’. He could not say whether the children all belonged to the same family.

He told reporters the woman is not in police custody. ‘She’s assisting us with our inquiries at this stage,’ he said.

He said it was not yet clear who had called emergency services and urged the public not to be alarmed.

A specialist team of police are en route from Brisbane, two hours flight south.

~ MORE TO COME

-dailymail.co-