Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
A family of six comprising a man, his wife, two children, mother-in-law and an apprentice have lost their lives after inhaling poisonous fumes from generating set.
The incident happened at their residence in Nkwele Ezunaka, close to the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State.
According to reports, the man identified as Ifeanyi from Enugu State, a trader at Onitsha Bridge Head Market, had planned a surprise package of moving into a new apartment for his wife who put to bed few days ago.
A family source said it was same night they moved into the apartment to celebrate both the new born baby and the mansion together that the incident occurred.
The source said: “The entire members of the family were enjoying themselves when suddenly there was a power outage. The man had to put on the generating set stationed at the veranda close to the bedroom.
“The celebration continued into the night before they all slept off and didn’t remember to put off the generating set.
“The next morning, a friend who was supposed to join them in the celebration but was unable went to felicitate with them came only to discover that the doors were locked with the generating set still on.
“After knocking continuously without response, he alerted other neighbours who forced the door open and saw the lifeless bodies of the victims.”
The wife and one of the daughters were said to still be unconscious when they were rushed to Borromeo hospital where they later died after efforts to resuscitate them failed.
“It was only the 4-day old baby that survived without any crisis which raised more curiosity on the circumstances of the death of others,” the source added.
The manager of St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onistha, Rev. Fr. Izunna Okonkwo, confirmed that only the new born baby was in stable condition when they reached the hospital, while the other four had already died before arrival to the facility.
Reacting, Police spokesperson, Tochukwu Ikenga, described the incident as unfortunate, saying circumstances surrounding their death were still unknown.
