Father Stabs 6 Minor Children, Sets House Ablaze After Wife Leaves Him, 1 Dead

A man stabbed his six children and set his home on fire before trying to kill himself after his wife left them. The incident took place in Mexico City on Tuesday,

Police and firefighters responded to the home Tuesday evening after receiving information that a man had attacked his family and set his home on fire. The victims, aged between three and 12, were rushed to a nearby hospital with third degree burns. The eldest daughter succumbed to injuries the following morning. Doctors said she died from multiple trauma.

The father, identified as 38-year-old Jorge Israel Villafuerte Elizalde, was taken to a hospital. During interrogation, he confessed to stabbing his children and said he committed the crime because his wife abandoned them.

Speaking to local media, a witness said the man flipped the couches and broke the windows of the home. He then poured gasoline on the children and stabbed them before locking them and setting the home on fire. Elizalde then slit his neck with a sharp weapon and tried to jump off the roof before he was confined by the police.

Another witness said one of the victims cried for help through a cracked window before he and his siblings were pulled out by the police. A video from the scene showed several people trying to douse the fire using buckets of water.