Two children died after a man and his wife attempted to commit suicide with them yesterday after the man refused to lend his father NT$1,000 (US$31), and the two got into an argument.
"The four-year-old girl and three-year-old boy died, while the 25 year-old man surnamed Hsia and his 23 year-old wife were treated intensive care in a hospital in Kaohsiung," according to a press statement released by the Kaohsiung City Police Department.
According to police, Hsia, a construction worker, had a bad relationship with his father, who often criticized him for not making enough money.
On Saturday afternoon, Hsia's father asked his son to lend him NT$1,000.
Hsia shouted at his father that he wouldn't do it.
In response, his father asked the family to move out of his house.
That evening, Hsia, who police said was apparently both angry and sad over the matter, asked his wife to go buy some coal, which she did.
When Hsia's father got up at 7am yesterday, he detected the smell of burning coal.
He discovered his son had lit the coal in a bedroom with his wife and two children, in an attempt to commit suicide.
Hsia's father called police.
Police said the two children died before rescuers reached the house, but that the couple was sent to a hospital, where doctors said they probably could save their lives.
Hsia's wife was able to talk but cried continually as she realized her children were dead, the statement said.
According to the police, Hsia's wife had written a letter to her mother-in-law apologizing for committing suicide.
The woman said that if her mother-in-law missed her grandchildren, she could go to the home and look at some of their pictures.
Hsia's mother was also distraught on hearing the news of the death of her grandchildren, police said.
Police said they plan to charge the couple with murder once they recover.
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