German police have found the bodies of several babies in an apartment in the southern state of Bavaria.

Police said a local resident found the body of one baby on Thursday afternoon in the apartment in the small town of Wallenfels, near the Czech border, and called the emergency services.

When officers arrived at the site, they uncovered several other bodies in a room at the property.

“Officers found several bodies of infants. The police and prosecutor… believe that there are probably seven dead,” police said in a statement on Friday.

Police added that they have been unable to find a 45-year-old woman who previously lived in the apartment.

“The woman is sought at least as the possible mother of the children,” said a police spokeswoman, who did not say if the woman is being considered a suspect.

Forensic investigators are examining the corpses but the process could be lengthy due to the poor condition of some of the bodies.

It was unclear how long the babies had been dead or who, if any, was living at the property at the time of the discovery.

Germany has witnessed several infanticide cases in recent years.

In May 2014, a woman was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for killing two of her children and hiding them in a freezer.

The bodies of two babies from the 1980s were found during construction works, in Bavaria, in October 2013.

Back in 2009, the remains of four babies were also found in a Berlin flat.