By Monday Osayande, Asaba
Delta State Police Command on Friday confirmed the mysterious death of four persons -three males and one female – whose lifeless bodies were found at the living room of a two bedroom apartment at Rich Man Garden Estate, behind Anglican Girls Grammar School, Asaba.
The State Commissioner of Police Mr. Hafiz Inuwa while confirming the incident said the the cause of the their deaths is still unknown.
The incident occurred Wednesday, and the fifth victim, Maxwell who was unconscious was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre for revival. He was placed on oxygen at the hospital
Meanwjhile, the deceased are yet to be known, but their ages range between 20 and 27.
Sources said the victims packed into the apartment on Tuesday.
Commissioner of Police said that investigation is ongoing to unravel the real cause of their death
According to Inuwa, if the unconscious victim survived, he will assist operatives to know what caused their deaths; but assured that autopsy will be conducted on them.
At the estate, residents expressed shock over the incident, saying that a power generating set that worked from Tuesday night to about noon on Wednesday may have responsible when it went off on its own.
But, according to one of the neighbours who claimed to have assisted in evacuating the corpses, the generator was at bacony hence the mystery sorroundig their deaths.
“I went in there to assist in the evacuation and I counted five persons, four boys and one girl. One of the boys was still alive but in critical condition. I did not find drugs or related substances. All of them were sitting in the parlour at the time we entered,” the source said.
Another concerned resident said they were worried that after over 24 hours, nobody came out of the apartment, and that the generator was not turned on the following evening.
“This created suspicion. So at dawn, we invited the police to come and check what was amiss. It was when the police opened the door that we found the lifeless bodies of four persons,” he said.
On his part, another neighbour who identified himself as Odogwu, said other occupants of the building raised concerns over the well being of the new tenants who had not come out of their flat even when rains had soaked their belongings.
“At night, we discovered that even when it rained on their properties, they did not come out and then we knew all was not well because no sane person will leave his properties under the rain when he can take them inside.
“This morning we became worried that they did not care for their properties and that was why we invited the police so that we can ascertain if all was well behind closed door,” Odogwu said.
The landlord of the building, Onuoha Okonji said he was surprised to discover that four more persons had joined the original tenant who he identified as Maxwell from Ozoro, adding that he was baffled when he got a distressed call about the tragedy.
Okonji said Maxwell was introduced to him by an agent, adding that they concluded transactions before the said Maxwell moved in.
Chairman of the estate, Clement Okafor suspected that the victims may have died due to prolonged inhaling of carbon mono oxide from the generator.
