Police say a man threw his four small children from the upper floor window of their family home on a Croatian island, injuring two of them seriously.

The children, ages 3, 5, 7 and 8, were hurled early Thursday morning from a height of some six meters (20 feet). The two older children suffered serious bone fractures while the younger ones were less badly hurt.

Police who detained the 54-year-old father are trying to determine his mental state.

The incident happened on the Adriatic sea island of Pag.