Carbon monoxide from a car accidentally left running in a closed garage seeped into a Markham home and claimed the life of a senior and sent his wife to hospital.
A relative who came to check up on the couple in the 9th Line and Highway 7 area home yesterday morning found the man on the floor and the woman on her bed in a deep sleep.
When the duo couldn’t be roused, the person called 9-1-1. Emergency officials arrived at about 10 a.m., but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife was rushed to hospital, but is expected to recover.
York Region police did not want to speculate on whether the death could have been prevented. “They had intentions to go out and got distracted,” said Det. Const. Adam Daviduke.
The couple had left the car running with the garage door open while they were getting ready, he explained, but then they changed their mind. Using a remote garage door opener, they shut the door, forgetting the car was still running, Daviduke said.
Daviduke said it is unclear how long the car was left running and that a coroner is still trying to pinpoint the time of death.
There was one carbon monoxide detector found inside the home, but it was not working properly, he said. Although it is not mandatory to have a carbon monoxide detector, experts suggest installing one on every floor.
