US: Mother drowns 3 children at NYC beach, suspect police

Three children died after being found on a New York City beach early Monday, and police believe they may have been drowned by their mother.

The 7-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl and a 3-month-old girl were found on Brooklyn's Coney Island beach shortly after 4:30 am. They were taken to a nearby hospital, Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said. All three were pronounced dead there.

The children's 30-year-old mother had been picked up earlier about 3.2 km away, Corey said. She was being questioned at the local stationhouse.

Police first got a call at about 1:40 am from a concerned relative of the mother who “indicated she was concerned that her family member may have harmed her three small children,” Corey said at a news conference near where the children were found.

Officers went to the woman's apartment building in the Coney Island neighbourhood, where a man identified as the father of one of the children said he was similarly concerned.

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