The Government says it has received the sad news of the unexplained violent deaths of a family that appears to have recently become resident on the Rock with profound shock.

The Government says the untimely death of a couple and their two children “defies description” and is “impossible to comprehend.”

A statement from Number Six which has just been made public continued:

“A peaceful society like the one we enjoy in Gibraltar will be hard-pressed to come to terms with such a horrendous tragedy. Until the Royal Gibraltar Police finalise their preliminary investigation of the incident and establish the facts, HM GOG is unable to comment further. The Government will, therefore, wait until the outcome of that investigation before making any further statements.”

On hearing the news, the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, adjourned the Gibraltar Parliament, which was in session, by agreement of all the members of the Parliament.

The Gibraltar Parliament held a minute’s silence at the insistence of the Chief Minister, who described the violent deaths as an “aberration” for a peaceful place like Gibraltar and adjourned the Parliamentary session, saying the discovery of the bodies meant that “today is not a day for gladiatorial political games.”

Mr Picardo further said: “As a husband and father, I – like no doubt all Gibraltarians and residents of Gibraltar - am in total shock to hear about this terrible crime. Gibraltarians are not accustomed to witness this type of incident in our peaceful and law abiding community. Words will fail us all at a moment like this and all we can do is keep the victims and their families in our thoughts and put our full trust in the Rule of Law so that Justice prevails”.