Arabic version: مصرع شخصين بعد حصار للشرطة في تشارلفيل

According to The Guardian, a pregnant woman and a man were found dead at a home in Charleville, outback Queensland, after an overnight police siege that ended in an apparent murder-suicide. A toddler who was inside the property during the standoff was found unharmed.

Police said officers went to the King Street property on Wednesday evening after reports of a “serious assault”. Several streets in the remote town, about 600km west of Toowoomba, were locked down as police responded.

An emergency declaration under Queensland’s Public Safety Preservation Act remained in force for about eight hours. Specialist officers entered the home shortly before 1.45am and found a 45-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman dead.

Assistant police commissioner Matthew Vanderbyl said the situation became “quite dynamic and quite threatening to police quite quickly”, leading officers to deploy specialists and a negotiator. He said it was too early to speculate on whether domestic violence was involved, while police continued notifying next of kin and establishing the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

Queensland police’s ethical standards command will investigate the incident because it occurred during a police operation. Murweh shire mayor Shaun Radnedge said there was no ongoing risk to the public and described the events as a tragedy that would be felt deeply in the small community.