Texas Mother and Daughter Killed By Carbon Monoxide After Trying to Stay Warm Running Car in Garage

A mother and her 8-year-old daughter have died of carbon monoxide poisoning after they tried to stay warm by running their car inside their garage.

Houston Police Department were called to do a welfare check on the home after concerned relatives lost contact.

The mother had been on the phone with a relative in Colorado when she suddenly became disoriented and stopped talking; prompting the family member to call HPD, ABC7 reported.

When they arrived, they found the woman dead inside her car in the garage, the engine still running.

Inside the condominium, which was attached to the garage, they also found the 8-year-old girl deceased.

A man and a 7-year-old boy were found alive but suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, and were rushed to hospital.

"Initial indications are that (a) car was running in the attached garage to create heat as the power is out," police said. "Cars, grills and generators should not be used in or near a building."

"It's a very difficult time. A lot of people are without power," Lt. Larry Crowson told the broadcaster. "I know it's cold, but you've got to be careful about using generators or cars inside a garage, or any type of fire, grill or charcoal grill. Carbon monoxide is odorless and can kill people very easily."

Carbon monoxide is toxic, and particularly dangerous because it is odorless, tasteless and colorless, thus virtually undetectable without an alarm.

Texas is currently in the grip of a devastating winter storm that has crippled the power grid, leaving millions without electricity to heat their homes

According to the Houston Chronicle, Harris County alone has seen more than 300 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning — mostly from people using BBQ pits and generators indoors in an attempt to stay warm.

Meanwhile in Sugar Land, just outside Houston, a grandmother and her three grandchildren were killed in a house fire on Tuesday; investigators do not yet know what caused the blaze, but suspect it accidentally started from either candles or a fireplace lit amid the power loss.