Five dead bodies were found on Christmas Day in an apartment near Paris, a mother and her four children, French prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in the town of Meaux, some 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) east of the center of Paris, in the northern Ile-de-France region.

French media including newspaper Le Figaro and the AFP news agency all reported on Tuesday morning, citing police sources, that the father of the family had been arrested following an overnight search. 

They said that the 33-year-old was already known to authorities for a history of domestic violence and psychiatric problems.

What else do we know about the crime?

Police were alerted to a possible disturbance at around 9 p.m. local time (2000 UTC/GMT) on Monday, Meaux public prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier said in a press conference on Tuesday.

People reported that the occupants were not responding, and said that "traces of blood in small quantities" were visible under the door, according to Bladier. 

Police broke into the premises to discover a major crime scene, he said, with the corpses of a Haitian-born mother, her two daughters and two sons. 

Bladier said the three female victims had been stabbed multiple times, while the two boys did not exhibit obvious external injuries, but rather indications of probable suffocation or drowning.

msh, sdi/rc (AFP, dpa)