A family of five is believed to have lit a small fire inside their house and inhaled the toxic fumes.

According to an emergency service, the family of four children and a man were found dead in two cases of carbon monoxide poisoning on Thursday in Johannesburg.

A two-month old girl, a four-year-old boy and another girl, 12, were found dead in Appolonia Street, Troyeville, around 8.30am, spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said.

The family of five is believed to have lit a small “imbawula” fire inside their house and inhaled the toxic fumes.

An imbawula is a makeshift coal stove made out of a large tin with holes in the side; it is designed to burn for a long time. The children’s mother and a six-year-old boy were taken to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital in a critical condition.