Five members of a family of six have died in their home in Amaokpo, Nike in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The family of Mr. Onyekwere Chukwumalu went to bed on Monday night, but five members were discovered dead on Wednesday morning.
Only his 10-year-old son was found half-conscious in the home as the family members were being evacuated and rushed to the hospital.
The family was to have been found after a building contractor, who had an appointment with Chukwumalu, went to the house to look for him and found his car parked outside.
The man was said to have called but his calls were unanswered, compelling him to move closer to their apartment.
It was learnt that he sighted the bodies of the family members in one unconscious heap and raised the alarm which attracted neighbours.
Chukwumalu reportedly held his family together as if they were praying.
The Herald learnt that the neighbours came together to break the apartment’s door and informed the police about the incident.
It was further learnt that the police from Abakpa Nike, the Chairman of Enugu East Local Government Area, Hon. Alex Ugwu, and the UN Rescue Mission went to the place on Wednesday evening.
It was in the process of moving out the bodies of the family members that the half-conscious 10-year-old son shouted “Jesus”.
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He was reportedly rushed to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozala, where he was said to be responding to treatment.
The South East Zonal Commander of the United Nations Rescue team, Emmanuel Okoye, addressed reporters about the incident on Thursday at the National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu, where the remains of the deceased had been deposited.
He disclosed that someone informed his team about the incident and the team moved to the scene.
Okoye said his team helped in evacuating the bodies to the hospital as the police had not arrived at the time.
Ugwu described the late Chukwumalu as a good person, expressing shock about his mysterious demise.
He attributed the deaths to “possible food poisoning”, noting that there was no generator around and so it could not have been carbon monoxide poisoning.
“When I heard about the incident, I alerted the police and the Ministry of Health to take charge. It was when the officials of the Ministry of Health were trying to evacuate the corpses that one of the man’s children sneezed and was discovered to be alive. He was rushed to the hospital,” New Telegraph quoted him as saying.
The Herald learnt that the bodies of the deceased were peeling when they were being evacuated.
The Enugu State Police Command has yet to confirm the incident.