A man, his wife and three of their four children have died from inhaling generator fume in Igboetche community, in the Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The couple has been identified as Andrew Monye and Onyinye Monye.
Their two daughters (15 and 11 years old) and a five-year-old boy also lost their lives.
The only child that survived is 13 years old.
It was learnt that the family had put on their generator and left it in the bathroom before going to bed on Monday night.
Sources said the generator fume circulated the building, leaving five members of the family dead.
The lone survivor was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention.
“Five out of the six family members died in their sleep as a result of generator fumes. The generator was kept in their bathroom and the carbon monoxide that the generator emitted must be responsible for their death,” a source in Igboetche told a PUNCH correspondent.
Another member of the community told the newspaper that though the generator was always left outside, the family decided to take it inside the bathroom because of the high rate of stealing in the community.
“They decided to take the generator in because there is a law that generators should be put off by 11 pm. The law came up because of the stealing in the community,” he said.
Some relatives the victims, however, believe they were poisoned.
“What happened was shocking; a family of five died just like that. I suspect that they put the generator inside the house because of the stealing and other crimes in our village.
“When we forced the door open, we saw them dead. That was why we reported it at the Umuebele Police Station. It was the police that took the bodies to the mortuary.
“As an Etche youth, I want the police to increase their work here and help us in arresting the criminals disturbing us; we are suffering,” a resident, Uche, said.
A villager, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Their (deceased) mouths were foaming and some of them had vomited. It was the surviving child that alerted the house builders opposite their compound that his parents and siblings did not wake up from sleep.
“They followed him inside the building and found the family dead. They also alerted their neighbours who informed the police about the tragedy. The police took the corpses to a mortuary.”
Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the death of the five family members.
Mr Omoni added that investigation had started into the circumstances that led to their death.
