A neighbour of three children killed following an incident in Timaru has described feeling "like my heart had dropped into my stomach" after learning of the events that had unfolded the night before.
Three children, two-year-old twins and a six-year-old, were killed following an incident on Thursday night.
Another person, believed to be a woman, was hospitalised and is in a stable condition.
Those involved had recently arrived from South Africa and had only been out of managed isolation in the past week.
Emergency services were called to the property after a person who arrived at the Queen Street address called police.
Police said the investigation is still its early stages and police are working to notify the next of kin.
People were delivering flowers to the property today, with a hearse in attendance.
Three siblings – two three-year-old twins and a seven-year-old – were killed in their Timaru home last night. (Source: Other)
Jade Whaley told 1News she and her husband Rob had been watching television at home on the night of the incident when she heard "a noise, like a sort of moan” at around 9.40pm and went outside to investigate.
The pair returned to watching television when “five minutes or so later, we heard another noise like a moan or a yell”, she said.
“It was more like almost a bit of a wail, a bit of a moan that someone had let out and then there was the crying but it was later on, it was quite a distressed crying.”
Jade said she then heard a bang which “sounded to me like someone kicking a car”, while Rob described it as being similar to the “slamming of a door, something similar like that”.
The Whaleys once again went to investigate before returning home after hearing silence.
“We started hearing more of this moaning and to me, it sounded like someone being distressed and crying,” Jade said.
“There was absolutely no yelling or screaming or any noises or anything like that apart from the wailing and the crying that got more intensified as time went on.”
Rob added: “I thought I heard, ‘What have I done?’ in amongst the wailing.”
The family had recently arrived in New Zealand from South Africa. (Source: Other)
The couple then saw a neighbour had returned home and was "speaking to a person from next door" and consoling him as the person called the police. Officers arrived at the scene several minutes later.
“There was a fella who was really distressed,” Rob said. “It pretty much unfolded from there.
“We never even thought of murder last night - we thought it was just a domestic.”
He said they had witnessed a woman who was “bent over and was being supported” as she was taken away in an ambulance. A man was seen being taken away in a police car.
“I actually made the comment to Rob and I said, ‘Well, that’s great there’s an ambulance here, it’s not the Coroner or anything coming,” Jade said.
The three children, recent arrivals from South Africa, were found dead at a property on Thursday. (Source: Other)
“Then this morning, it unfolded,” Rob added.
Jade recalled feeling “just sick... like my heart had dropped into my stomach” after learning of what had occurred the night before.
“All I could think about - those poor people,” she said, her voice overcome with emotion.
“They were next door and I didn’t know what was happening. If I had any inclination that there was something going amiss, I would have been over there in a heartbeat or rung the police but I didn’t so I felt just… I felt guilt that it happened next door and I didn’t know, there was nothing I could do.”
She said Timaru is in “mourning with everything that’s happened”.
“Just numb to think this has happened here in quiet Timaru and we live in a neighbourhood that is predominantly quiet - there’s no gang fights or things that usually happen like that here. It’s just a shock.”
“There’s a lot of churning going on inside, feelings of sorrow,” Rob added.
Jade said they hope the, “person who has done this can at least give some answers to why”.
“We hope the family members get some answers, but it’s not going to shift the pain.”
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