The only survivor in a family of six who reportedly died of generator fumes in Igboetche, Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, Victory Monye, has passed on barely five days after losing his parents and siblings.
Monye was said to have died at about 3am on Friday at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, where he was admitted after his parents and three siblings died on Monday.
It was gathered that the 13-year-old raised the alarm when he noticed that his parents and siblings did not wake up on Monday morning.
While community members confirmed that five out of six persons died in their sleep, Monye, who was alive, but staggering, was rushed to the hospital.
A source in Etche, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told newsmen that at the hospital, he got information that though Monye was stable, his organs had been affected.
“He was put on life support since Monday. He vomited all through the time day he was admitted. By Thursday, there was an improvement and we hoped that he would survive.
“We later heard that the vital organs have been seriously affected. Doctors were sucking out bad fluid from his nose,” the source added.
Sources said the family put on their generator and left it in the bathroom before going to bed.
Many residents in the community believed that the generator fumes could have percolated the entire building, leaving all members of the family, except one dead.
The children, who died earlier, were two girls (15 and 11 years old) and a five-year-old boy.
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It was also gathered that though the generator was always left outside the house, the family decided to leave it inside the bathroom when cases of theft became rampant within the community.
When contacted to speak on Monye’s death, the Chief Medical Director of UPTH, Prof. Henry Ugboma, said he would speak on the matter as soon as he got details of what happened.
However, his mobile was switched off when our correspondent called him again to get his reaction.
