Government officials are investigating the deaths of two people in the Marsh Lake area on Saturday.

“Shortly before 4 p.m. on December 19, 2020, Yukon Coroner’s Service was notified of a double fatality in the Marsh Lake area,” says a statement from the Department of Justice on behalf of the Yukon Coroner’s Service.

“Whitehorse RCMP had been called to do a wellness check at a home on Duke Arm. The residents had not been seen or heard from since the afternoon of December 16.”

The release states the bodies of 76-year-old Percy Andrews and 74-year old Jo-Anne Smith were found in a temporary enclosed shed near to where a generator had been running.

“The preliminary investigation suggests that death is the result of carbon monoxide toxicity,” according to the coroner.

Andrews and Smith were described as long term residents of the Marsh Lake area.

The Yukon Coroner’s Service is continuing the investigation.

It said it appreciates the assistance of the Whitehorse RCMP, the Marsh Lake Fire Department and the Yukon Fire Marshall’s Office.

“We also extend our condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Andrews and Ms. Smith and the Marsh Lake community.”

No further details were immediately available.

It’s not the first case of carbon monoxide causing fatalities in the territories.

One of the best-known tragedies occurred in January 2012 when a family of four and another man died after the chimney of their rented house on Centennial Street in Porter Creek was sealed off under snow and ice.

Brad, 45, Valerie 37, Gabe, 13 and Rebekah Rusk, 11, and their 47-year-old family friend, Donald McNamee, were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning.