Steve Uzoechi, OWERRI
At least 10 people were alleged to have
killed by generator fume at Umuonumu Mbieri in Mbaitoli council area of Imo
state, while two are presently in coma in hospital, battling to stay alive
The deceased are three children, including a
set of twins and seven others, comprising men and women. They were all alleged
to have died from inhaling generator fume.
A community leader, Chief Martins Ezurike,
said: “The traditional wedding ceremony of Raymond Uzoegbu’s daughter, Favour,
was held in their compound on June 9, 2019. The in-laws came from Anambra State
and the celebration lasted till evening. After the wedding, more than 20
persons slept in the Uzoegbu building. The generator, which they were using
during the ceremony, was kept somewhere inside the building. While sleeping,
over 20 of them were exposed to the generator fume for close to 12 hours,
leading to death of some.
The Imo State Police Public Relations Officer
(PPRO), Orlando Ikeokwu, while confirming the incident, said: “At about 8am
Monday morning, Herbert Uzoegbu, brother to Raymond Uzoegbu, reported that he
went to check on his brother around 7am and realised that their door was still
locked. There was no response to his calls. The only sound was that of the
generator. It was when they broke into the house that they discovered that
everyone in the house was unconscious.”
Ikeokwu said that six persons were already
dead and 23 unconscious by the time police evacuation team got to the scene. Some
of the affected persons were rushed to an undisclosed hospital at Nwaorieubi
and others to Ikeduru Hospital.
At Ikeduru Hospital, managed by Imo
International Health System, the administrator of the facility, Dr. Austin
Agbahiwe, disclosed that three of the victims were brought in dead, while 17
others were receiving treatment.
He said: “They were brought in at about 8am. We
had to leave every other thing to attend to them. Three of them were brought in
dead, while we are trying to stabilize other 17 patients. I believe the 17
others will live. We had a similar incident about a fortnight ago; but this was
a case of vehicle exhaust fume choking about 25 passengers. The 25 were brought
in unconscious, but all of them survived due to timely intervention.”
One other person is believed to have also
passed on while two other affected persons are said to be in a coma.
The groom and bridegroom survived the tragedy
as they left Imo State shortly after the traditional wedding on Sunday.
Meanwhile there have been different versions
of the incident in town. While some believe the wedding cake and food may have
been poisoned, others insisted it was a voodoo attack.
The building, where the tragedy occurred, has
since been deserted with villagers carefully keeping their distance, for fear
of the unknown. Most locals said they preferred to trek a longer distance than
to walk past the Uzoegbu ‘House of Horror.’
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