1 Dead, 15 Others on Danger List as Generator Fumes Choke Worshipers at Vigil Centre
Residents of Aba, Abia state have been thrown into mourning following the death of a six year old boy while fifteen other worshipers who attended an inter denominational vigil at Young Peoples Christian Fellowship centre are on danger list as they inhaled poisonous fumes from a generating set used at the centre.
Pointblanknews.com sources said the victims who are natives of Ututu in Arochukwu LGA of Abia State had ended the vigil and decided to pass the night at the centre with the generating set kept at the veranda still running while the doors and window were shut.
They were said to have inhaled the fumes from the generating set which suffocated to death the six old boy while fifteen other worshipers were found unconscious and now being treated at various hospitals in the city .
The incident which took place at the vigil centre located No.5 Eziukwu road by Milverton Avenue, Aba shocked residents of the commercial city as relations of the victims wailed uncontrollably over the situation.
A sister to one of the victims told Pointblanknews.com that she saw off her niece to the vigil centre but when the latter could not early morning and wasn't taking her calls, she alerted members of her family who dashed to the centre and raised alarm which attracted passersby.
The incident was reported to the Aba Area Commander, Peter Wagbara who sent his men to force open the vigil centre and found the victims unconscious while the six year old boy has already died.
When police conducted a search at the centre, they discovered the generating set which had exhausted its fuel, was still very hot. Vehicles were mobilized to take the victims to the hospital.
In an interview with newsmen at the centre, Senior Pastor, Word Alife Assembly, Aba, Dr. Philip Richard who serves as the secretary of Arochukwu Pastors living in Aba confirmed that the worshipers were all natives of Ututu in Arochukwu LGA who usually converge at the centre for the vigil program.
“I was contacted this morning that the believers from Ututu in Arochukwu who went to pray in a church in Aba had all died. We have a fellowship of believers of Ututu origin in Aba and they came to pray for themselves and their community at this venue. They are from various churches and not from one church. The husband and wife whose child died are from my own church,”
he lamented.
Abia State deputy governor, Chief Emeka Ananaba who visited some of the victims at Austin Grace Hospital, Okigwe road, Aba, assured that he has sent the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Okechukwu S.Ogah to ensure that the victims gets the best medical attention.
While answering questions from reporters during Ananaba's visit, a medical doctor at the Hospital, Dr. Mark Iwuagwu, attributed the cause of the incident to suffocation as a result of carbon mono-oxide poison they inhaled from a generating set and added that his Hospital has the best equipment to tackle the situation.
“You can see that some of them are already responding to treatment,” Iwuagwu said.
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