feel a gut-wrenching sadness
衝撃的なニュースです。
Australian woman arrested in stabbing deaths of 8 children
An Australian woman was arrested for murder in the killings of eight children, seven of whom are believed to be her own, police said Saturday. The children were found dead inside the woman’s home.
The 37-year-old woman, who is recovering in a hospital from stab wounds, was under guard and speaking with police, Queensland Police Detective Inspector
Bruno Asnicar said. She has not yet been formally charged.
The woman is thought to be the mother of seven of the children, Asnicar said. The eighth is believed to be her niece.
Police haven’t said how the children died. But Asnicar said they’re examining several knives in the home that may have been the weapon used to kill them.
The children ranged in age from 18 months to 14 years, Asnicar said.
Queensland police were called to the home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries.
When they got to the house, they found the bodies of the children.
The woman, whose name has not been released, was also found in the home with the children, suffering from stab wounds to the chest. Asnicar said she is lucid and talking to police.
“We’re not looking for anybody else — we’re comfortable that the community at large is safe,” Asnicar said.
“The news out of Cairns is heartbreaking,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a statement. “All parents would feel a gut-wrenching sadness at what has happened. This is an unspeakable crime. These are trying days for our country.”
今回取り上げる単語は“gut-wrenching”です。辞書で調べてみると、「感傷的な」（『ジーニアス英和辞典第四版』大修館）という意味がありました。この“gut”は日本語でも使われている「ガッツ」です。また、“wrench”には「＜物を＞〔…から〕もぎ取る」（『ジーニアス英和辞典第四版』大修館）という意味があります。日本語で言えば、“胸が引き裂かれる”といったところでしょうか。
今回の事件は子ども７人と姪を刺した後に自分の胸を刺したものとみられています。子どもの年齢も１歳半から15歳と幅広いようです。なぜこのような事件が起こってしまったのでしょうか。とても衝撃的でした。（Green）
以前にUG先生が“gut-wrenching”について記事を書かれていました。
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20121211/1355181567
