Woman and four children found dead

New York City police investigating the stabbing deaths of four children and a woman in Brooklyn have arrested a Chinese immigrant.

Officers found all five victims unconscious and unresponsive. Two girls, nine-year-old Linda Zhuo and seven-year-old Amy Zhuo, were pronounced dead at the scene, along with the youngest child, one-year-old William Zhuo.

Their brother, five-year-old Kevin Zhuo, and 37-year-old mother, Qiao Zhen Li, were taken to hospitals, where they also were pronounced dead.

The man arrested was 25-year-old Ming Don Chen.

Fire Department spokesman Jim Long said emergency workers responded just before 11pm on Saturday to a 911 call from a person stabbed at the residence  in the Sunset Park neighbourhood.

Chief of Department Phil Banks says the victims “were cut and butchered with a kitchen knife”.

Mr Banks says Chen is a cousin of the children’s father and had been staying at the home for the past week or so.