1 dead, 6 sickened in Indiana; carbon monoxide suspected

LEXINGTON, Ind. – A woman died and six other people, including three children, received medical treatment after apparently being sickened by carbon monoxide fumes from a gasoline-powered generator set up inside a southern Indiana home, police said.

Scott County deputies who were called early Wednesday to the home found that the generator was being used indoors, police said.

Terri L. Hart, 51, was found dead inside the home, while a 23-year-old and three children ages 6, 4 and three months, were taken to hospitals for treatment, police said. Two other people were treated at the scene.

Hart’s cause of death will not be determined until results from an autopsy are received, but authorities said a preliminary investigation revealed signs of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“The rest of the folks in the home are going to be OK and as time goes on, they are going to recover,” Scott County Sheriff Jerry Goodin told WLKY-TV.

He said the home’s residents had moved in Tuesday. The home, located in the unincorporated community of Lexington, about 25 miles (40 kilometres) north of Louisville, Kentucky, did not have electricity service, Goodin said.

The sheriff’s office said the agency was conducting a non-criminal death investigation.