At least five people have died and several others injured in Paris after a stabbing over a family dispute in which a man attacked his family.

According to the French outlet BFM TV, the attack took place on Saturday morning. The five deaths have been reported to be of four children and one adult. Three additional family members were hospitalized.

The incident took place in the Noisy-le-Sec commune, in northeastern Paris.

The police were alerted to the incident after a young, injured child went to a bar asking for help near where the incident happened.

The child is reported to have told the manager of the bar that his uncle had “gone mad” and that he had assaulted the rest of his family “with a knife and a hammer.”

Officers were dispatched to the scene of the incident where they found, in addition to the five people who had died, five people who were unconscious or seriously injured.

Three of them were reported to be in critical condition, and two in a state of “relative urgency.”

The alleged perpetrator was identified by the police as the uncle of this family of Sri Lankan origin.

The uncle was found at the scene in a coma, with a knife and a hammer by his side, according to BFM TV, and taken to a nearby hospital in the outskirts of central Paris.