Italian Dad Kills Kids Then Jumps To Death

A cash-strapped father threw his two young children to their deaths from a balcony before leaping off himself, Italian police have said.

Marco Turrini, 41, had been unemployed for 18 months after the advertising firm where he worked was hit by the economic crisis and cut back his hours.

Neighbours said he had grown increasingly depressed as he struggled to find a new job, and feared losing his wife and his home as the family's situation worsened, according to police.

The tragedy happened in the northern Italian town of Brescia and is thought to be the latest in a string of suicides by people who have been hit by the downturn in the economy and the ongoing eurozone crisis, which has increased unemployment.

A police spokesman said Mr Turrini died instantly.

The Italian's 14-month-old girl Benedetta and four-year-old boy Samuele initially survived the fall from the sixth-floor balcony, but later died in hospital from their injuries.

The spokesman added Mr Turrini's wife had been in the flat at the time and the couple had argued before he grabbed his son and daughter and threw them to their deaths.

She is in hospital being treated for shock.

A neighbour, who was identified only as Elisabetta, told Italian media: "They were a very happy family. I had known them for about four or five years. I saw the children born and watched them grow up.

"This morning I heard some shouting and when I came downstairs to see what had happened I saw him on the floor. He was barely alive.

"He was just about breathing. The little girl's heartbeat was very weak."

Later Mr Turrini's cousin, Maurizio, revealed that the late man's father had committed suicide a year ago.

He added: "I can't believe it. I am in shock. I knew he wasn't working but I didn't think things were this bad. What did the children have to do with this?"

The ongoing economic crisis has been blamed for a spate of suicides across Italy in recent weeks.

The most dramatic incident was in March when a man set fire himself outside a tax office in Bologna.

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