Two children were found dead and two other family members critically ill inside a house in the Nderi area, Kikuyu, Kiambu County.
According to the police, the incident was reported by a man, who told police he had been involved in a domestic dispute with his wife on the night of May 9.
He stated that following the disagreement, he was locked out of their residence at Shell View Apartments and spent the night in a guest house.
On Monday May 11 morning, he returned to the house and found the door locked from inside.
Despite knocking and making phone calls, there was no response, prompting him to seek assistance from police officers at Nderi Police Post.
Police visited the scene and gained entry by cutting through a sitting room window grill before opening the main door.
Inside the children’s bedroom, officers discovered two children — a girl, aged six, and boy, aged five — lying unresponsive on a lower decker bed with foam coming from their mouths.
Also found inside the room were their mother and 11-year-old, a nephew, who were lying on the floor while groaning in pain.
Preliminary investigations point to suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. Detectives recovered a sack of charcoal, a jiko containing ash, and cellotape believed to have been used to seal air spaces in the bedroom door.
The items were collected as exhibits by scenes of crime personnel from Kiambu.
The woman and boy were rushed to PCEA Kikuyu Hospital for treatment, while the bodies of the two children were moved to the hospital mortuary pending postmortem examination.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the deaths are ongoing, police said on Tuesday.
Carbon monoxide is regarded a silent killer.
A burning jiko emits carbon monoxide, which is deadly. Carbon monoxide poisoning is more likely to occur when people are asleep.
The team also wants to establish if the officer died from carbon monoxide poisoning or it was set there.
Carbon monoxide poisoning, always referred to as ‘the silent killer’ happens when the toxic odourless gases emitted from burning wood or charcoal mix with blood and affect oxygen circulation in the body.
When one breathes in carbon monoxide, it enters the blood, mixes with the red blood cells’ haemoglobin to form poisonous carboxyhaemoglobin that prevents blood from transporting oxygen.
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