Zagreb police have reported having found, early on Saturday morning, three dead children and their father who had attempted to commit suicide in the city's neighbourhood of Mlinovi.

The police found the man in his flat after receiving information that he would commit suicide. He was found in a stupefied state and was taken to hospital.

The man is suspected of having suffocated his children.

According to unofficial information, the man is an Austrian national who lives and works in Zagreb.

Before the brutal crime, he posted a letter on social networks saying his girlfriend had left him because his former wife treated her badly and that he had been left without any money.

At the time of the crime, the children’s mother was not in Zagreb and the children were spending their weekend with the father.