It was a tragic scene in Etche Local Government on Wednesday morning as the bodies of Charly Chibuogwu, his wife and three children were discovered in their apartment having died due to the inhalation of generator fumes.
It was gathered that Mr Chibuogwu, said to be from Idumu Ozue, Umuolo Onicha Olona, and his family went to bed on Tuesday night and never woke up.
A source in the community said the deceased had put on their power generator due to power outage before they went to bed in one of the rooms in their apartment on Tuesday night after they had earlier attended a funeral ceremony in the community.
According to the source, “we were surprised when residents of the neighbourhood alerted the whole community that Mr Charly and his family had died as a result of inhaling fumes from his generator.”
He explained that the generator’s vibration had moved it, causing its exhaust to face the room in which they (the deceased) were sleeping.
The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “When we got there, we saw fumes all over their room. They died as a result of suffocation from the generator fumes, which they had inhaled.”
Describing the incident as a rude shock to the entire community, he said: “We have never witnessed or heard of this kind of occurrence in this community or in neighbouring communities.”
Though an autopsy is yet to be conducted on the victims, police preliminary investigation indicated that they died from suffocation caused by generator fumes.
