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CRIME

Mother ‘kills sons before committing suicide’

Germany has been left reeling this weekend by the tragic murders of two young boys. Their 38-year-old mother is thought to have suffocated her sons before committing suicide.

Mother 'kills sons before committing suicide'
Photo: DPA

The children’s father discovered the bodies of his wife and children when he returned to the family home in the village of Emmering, west of Munich, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Police sources say Hannes, six, and Moritz, four, were suffocated in their beds. Their mother was found hanged. The exact details of crime are still unknown, but police say the dead 38-year-old woman, known only as Catrin F, is the prime suspect.

Her motive for the killings has left locals in the quiet town of 6,400 inhabitants baffled. A polices spokesman said there weren’t known to have been recent family quarrels and the family appeared to have had a happy home life.

The children’s father, 45-year-old Karl F., is said to be in shock and is yet to be questioned by police. He is currently under the supervision of a crisis management team and in the care of relatives.

Karl F. will be questioned in the coming days. According to a police spokesman, authorities are keen to know where he was before arriving back at his home on Saturday morning.

It’s the second family tragedy to strike the state of Bavaria this month. Last week a 44-year-old craftsman from Ostallgäu was found to have strangled his sons, aged four and ten. He then hanged himself on an industrial site near Kempten.

His wife, 37, and daughter, 16, were found safe at their family home shortly afterwards.

The Local/DPA/ccp

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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