Not less than seven university students have died after apparently inhaling fumes from a generator in a music studio in Nigeria’s oil-rich Bayelsa state.
The victims were undergraduates from the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU) in Amassoma, who were involved in the music recording business to support their education
The young men are said to have worked late into Monday night and fell asleep in the locked studio with the generator still running.
They are suspected to have suffocated from carbon monoxide emissions but police say investigations are ongoing.
Many businesses and households in Nigeria rely on diesel- or petrol-powered generators because of inadequate power supply.
Six bodies were discovered on Tuesday morning, while one of them, who was found unconscious, was rushed to a nearby hospital but later died, local media reported.
Residents of the area raised the alarm when they peeped through the window of the studio and saw the bodies sprawled on the floor.
Police arrived and cordoned off the area after moving out the bodies in the Amarata area of Yenagoa – the Bayelsa state capital.
“Investigations are being carried out but based on what we have seen, carbon monoxide poisoning due to generator fumes is a possible cause,” police spokesperson Musa Mohammed said.
