Mass suicide: Family Of Five Obsessed With Covid Conspiracy Theories Jumps From 7th Floor Balcony

Five members of a wealthy French family gripped by conspiracy theories linked to Covid jumped "one after the other" from their seventh-floor apartment in Montreux, Switzerland, according to police.

The police said on Tuesday that their investigation suggests that the four people — a 40-year-old man, his 41-year-old wife, her twin sister, and the couple’s 8-year-old daughter — plunged to their deaths in Montreux in western Switzerland in succession.

The bodies of 40-year-old Eric David, his 41-year-old wife, Nasrine Feraoun, her twin sister Narjisse, and the couple’s 8-year-old daughter were found at the bottom of an apartment building near the casino in the plush town of Lake Geneva, just 45 minutes after police arrived at their door, the Swiss police said.

However, their 15-year-old son survived the tragedy that happened last Thursday, March 24, in the Swiss resort town. He remains in a coma in a stable condition in the hospital.

Police in Vaud said on Tuesday, March 29, that two officers responded to the apartment at 6:15 am (04:15 GMT) last Thursday, to conduct an inquiry about the home-schooling arrangements of the teen boy.

The officers left the building after no one answered the door. Shortly before 7:00 am (05:00 GMT), all five jumped from the balcony within the space of five minutes, according to reports.

Authorities said they do not believe any other persons were present in the apartment at the time of the incident.

Investigators detected no sign of a struggle but found a stepladder on the balcony proving that "all the victims jumped from the balcony one after the other".

"Before or during the events, no witnesses, including the two police officers present on the spot from 6:15 am and the passers-by at the foot of the building, heard the slightest noise or cry coming from the apartment or the balcony," police said.

"Technical investigations show no warning signs of such an act," authorities added, noting however that "since the start of the pandemic, the family was very interested in conspiracy and survivalist theories".

"She had built up an impressive stock of food of all kinds, very well organized, occupying most of the different rooms in the apartment, to enable her to deal with a major crisis. The family lived in virtual self-sufficiency, withdrawn from society. Only the mother's twin sister worked outside the home. Neither the mother, nor the 8-year-old girl were officially registered with the inhabitants' control, which explains the lack of schooling for this child," the release said.

"All of these elements suggest, among the members of this family, the fear of interference by the authority in their lives," said the police.

France’s Journal du Dimanche newspaper said the deceased twins were granddaughters of Algerian novelist Mouloud Feraoun.