Deaths of children rock Cairns police

A relative of the murdered children is overcome by grief at the make-shift memorial. Photo / Getty Images

A senior Queensland police officer has described the killing of eight children in a Cairns home as one of the most tragic events the service has had to deal with.

Mersane Warria, the 37-year-old mother of seven of the dead children and aunt of the eighth, was charged with eight counts of murder at a bedside hearing in Cairns Hospital yesterday.

She remains in hospital recovering from stab wounds and has been excused from a formal hearing at Cairns Magistrates Court today.

Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said the tragedy had taken a huge toll on the family, police and the community.

"It's clearly the most tragic event we've had to deal with [in Cairns]," he told reporters.

Asnicar said the family had been notified of the charges and had taken the news well although they remained "deeply, deeply upset".

He said autopsies on the victims were under way but as the matter was now before the courts it was unlikely the details of how they died would be released by police.

"Anything I can say has been very, very limited," he said.

The Manoora house where the children were found dead on Friday would remain a crime scene until all the evidence had been collected.

"This is going to be a long process; a great deal of the work starts now," he said.

Earlier yesterday, a man, thought to be the father of some of the murdered children, wailed and shouted: "My babies, my babies!" in heartbreaking scenes at a makeshift memorial in a park next to the Manoora home. He had to be helped along Murray St, appearing too distraught to walk on his own.

A distressed older woman could be heard calling for her grandchildren.

Crowds at the community centre in Murray St and local churches in Cairns remembered the children - four girls aged 2, 11, 12 and 14 and four boys aged 5, 6, 8 and 9.

The Torres Strait Island community in Brisbane attended a special service at Inala.

- AAP