Bodies of five children found in private flat in Germany

Police officers are seen in front of a residential building where the bodies of five children were found in the western town of Solingen (Picture: REUTERS)

The bodies of five children have been found in a private apartment in western Germany near Cologne.

Emergency services were called to a residential block in the Hasseldelle area of Solingen on Thursday.

Herbet Reul, the region's top security official said the bodies were found after the children's grandmother, who lives 60 kilometres away, notified police.

Police investigate at a house where five dead children were found in Solingen, Germany (AP)

The dead girls were aged one, two and three, and the boys were six and eight, German news agency dpa reported.

Police spokesman Stefan Weiand told n-tv television the mother of the children later jumped in front of a train in Dusseldorf and has been taken to hospital with injuries.

There was no immediate information on the causes of death or possible motive.

The mother’s sixth child, an 11-year-old boy, survived and was with relatives.e

This story is being updated.