A family of five living in the Umuatuegwu Okija community, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, have lost their lives after they consumed a rice meal.
The entire family including the husband, wife and three children were wiped out entirely a day after the meal.
The victims were identified as Albert Ndenemenu, a commercial motorcyclist; his wife, Nwanne, and their three children.
The family were reported to have consumed the rice which was prepared by the wife on the night of Wednesday, August 9, 2017. The victims were reported to have started vomiting blood shortly after the meal and fell to their death.
The community is in gloom as several suspected the death to be food poisoning related.
One of the residents in the area who pleaded anonymity said: “The man had just returned from his work when the wife finished preparing the food. As soon as the man and the three children finished eating, they started dying one after the other. They were all vomiting blood.”
Another witness reported that the wife watched her husband and three children die before she also collapsed and died.
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“She was the one that raised the alarm when she saw her family dying one after the other. When people rushed into their compound following her alarm, it was discovered that they were already dead.
“The woman, on seeing the lifeless bodies of her husband and children, slumped and was taken to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where she also died.”
An indegene of the area reported that the cause of the death of the victims is yet to be ascertained. He further stated that efforts made to make the management of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, where the victims were confirmed dead, to conduct autopsies on the deceased, fell on deaf ears.
The relatives were reported to have taken the five bodies back home with intent of depositing them in a mortuary before the story started making rounds.