Hong Kong  - Police in Hong Kong were Sunday investigating a murder-suicide case in which a 27-year-old man threw his toddler niece to her death from a high-rise apartment block.

The 2-year-old girl and her uncle were both found dead at the foot of the block of flats in the city's Sheung Shui district after falling from a ninth-floor balcony on Saturday morning.

The girl's mother told police that her husband's brother snatched the girl and threw her from the balcony before jumping to his death. Police believe he may have suffered a mental breakdown.

Murder-suicide cases in Hong Kong involving children have increased sharply in recent years, often involving cases of financial hardship or mental illness.

In November, a mother strangled her 13-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son before jumping to her death in Hong Kong Wong Tai Sin district. She had been released from a mental hospital days earlier. (dpa)