A 30-year-old Lusaka man of Emmasdale area on Tuesday killed his two children and committed suicide at a lodge in Matero.

In a statement yesterday, assistant police public relations officer Godfrey Chilabi confirmed the incident saying the bodies were discovered by employees at the lodge.

“We received a report of suspected murder and suicide. A worker at a named lodge in Matero Township reported that unknown adult male person aged between 30-35 years accompanied by two children a boy and a girl booked a room on Tuesday 19th March around 22:00hrs. In the evening of 20th March 2018 around 20:00hrs, the members of staff at the lodge noticed that the guests were not coming out despite knocking on the door several times. Then one of them peeped through the keyhole and saw the man gasping. It was at this point that they reported the matter to Matero Police Station. Upon arrival, police officers entered the room and found that the children were dead,” stated Chilabi.

“Their father who was found gasping was rushed to the hospital where he later died. In the room, Police officers found three empty bottles of pesticide, torn documents and two cell phones submerged in water. From the initial findings so far, we suspect that the man administered some toxic pesticides on the children and later committed suicide. However, further investigation have been instituted. The deceased have been identified by relatives as Joe Tembo aged 30 and his children Fernando, a boy aged 3 and Shamie, a girl aged 6 residents of Emmasdale in Lusaka. The bodies are lying in the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) Mortuary awaiting post-mortem.”