Mottley, who is attending a session of the CARICOM Heads of Government in Suriname, said her heart goes out to the extended family and asked Barbados to hold them up.

The bodies of Anthony Lovell, 49 years; his wife Allison Lovell, 46; and two children, Abriel and Alexander Lovell, ages 12 and ten, respectively, were discovered in their home at Breezy Hill, St Philip.

Neighbours reported hearing an explosion around 3:30 a.m.

The full statement from the Prime Minister follows:

Early this morning in Suriname, I woke to the tragic news of the explosion and the loss of four lives – two young children 10- and 12-years old, and two adults.

I really want to say that my heart literally goes out to the extended family and I’m sure that all Barbadians do and that we would want to keep the extended family in their prayers.

Death of young people and young children at such a tender age in such a tragic way really, really is not something that we should ever become accustomed to. And to that extent, therefore, I think that all of us across the nation will feel some sense of trauma upon learning of the news this morning.

The authorities are in the middle of their investigations, and I anticipate that once that is done, we will have a fuller picture of what really transpired.

But at this stage, I think all of us just need to hold up each other and to hold up for the trauma that we feel collectively as a people. But hold up the family, extended family in particular, who must be fully and truly traumatised at the loss of their family.

And as I said, the thought of such young children and young people losing their lives in this tragedy has really hurt my heart