Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin-City
Tragedy struck at Akpata Street in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, on Monday night, as a family of seven were said to have been wiped off by generator fume.
The family was said to have put on a generator in their kitchen and left it running throughout the night.
It was gathered that some neighbours raised an alarm when the bodies of the family were seen lying lifeless in the apartment when the door was opened.
The lifeless bodies of the occupants which were brought to the Benin Central Hospital attracted sympathisers who resorted to prayers for God’s intervention.
The corpses of the deceased were, however, deposited at the Benin Central Hospital amidst weeping and wailing from the sympathisers.
But the father of the deceased children, identified as Tochukwu Okwueze, was said to have been taken to a hospital in the Eweka area of Benin for medical attention, after he was found in a state of coma.
“My younger one called me from Lagos and asked me what was happening. I said that I did not know.
“So, he told me to go the house, that something not pleasing to the ears had just happened.
“So, I call her (deceased woman’s) line. Somebody picked the call and said that they (victims) slept and did not wake up. I stay at Evbuotubu area, so I went to the place.
“The whole family was affected. But the police told me that the father survived it. They said that though his case was serious, if there was the need to rush him to University of Benin Teaching Hospital, they would call me. It is a family of seven. The youngest is a set of twins”, one of the relatives of the deceased, Vincent, explained to journalists in Benin City today.
The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, confirmed the incident.