Post date: Oct 24, 2010 2:11:48 PM
Eleven members of a family, including four children, jump from their apartment on the outskirts of Paris.
LA VERRIERE, FRANCE (OCTOBER 23, 2010) M6 - French police questioned two men after a family collectively jumped from their apartment in the early hours of Saturday morning (October 23).
A four-month-old baby died in the incident.
The family lived on the second floor of a block of flats in La Verriere, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) south west of Paris.
A neighbour who lives on the second floor said he heard shouting around 0500 (0300GMT) and alerted the police.
He said the lady who owned the flat, her sister, babies and children jumped out of the window at the back of the building, adding that the children's father then knocked on the door to ask for help.
''I opened the door, he was naked, bare naked, with blood all over his arms. I don't know what happened. He asked me for clothes," said Armand, whose last name was not given.
Police spokesman Yann Devane told reporters at the scene of the home that initial reports suggested the family may have been involved in voodoo.
''It seems to be a group of about 12 persons involved in a voodoo ritual, though this has to be taken with some caution. It needs to be checked. In this group, one person seems to have had a dementia crisis leading to the other people in the flat panicking and jumping out of the flat," Devane said.
Some members of the family were treated in hospital including another baby who remains under care with serious wounds.