Mother and two children killed in suspected murder-suicide near Marrakech

A 40-year-old mother and her two children, aged 8 and 5, died in a tragic incident in Tamansourt, on the outskirts of Marrakech, last week.

According to Al Akhbar, preliminary findings from the investigation indicate that the divorced mother threw herself and her five-year-old son from the fifth floor of the apartment building where she lived, killing them both instantly.

Investigators also found her eldest son, born in 2018, dead inside the family home after allegedly ingesting a large quantity of rat poison. Three empty containers of the substance were reportedly discovered beside him. Initial evidence suggests that the mother and her younger son may also have consumed the poison before the fatal fall.

According to investigators, the woman had been facing a number of social and family difficulties involving her ex-husband and his relatives, who lived in the same building.

The Royal Gendarmerie has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy and has begun taking statements from the victim's family, her ex-husband and members of his family. The public prosecutor's office at the Marrakech Court of Appeal has also ordered autopsies on the three bodies to establish the exact causes and circumstances of their deaths.