A relative found the bodies of a 23-year-old woman and her four daughters aged five, three, two and eight months, in a wardrobe.

The youngest - the only survivor - was taken to hospital when she was discovered still to be breathing.

Police at the scene, about 25 miles (40km) west of Fort Worth, said the deaths appeared to be a murder-suicide.

Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said the children had been hanged with strips of clothing and sashes at the Oak Hills mobile home park.

"It's terrible, terrible," he said.

The deceased woman was believed to have been separated from her husband, who had been notified of the deaths, Sheriff Fowler said.