At least seven university students have died after apparently inhaling fumes from a generator in a music studio in Nigeria’s Bayelsa state.
The students had reportedly 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, although police say investigations are ongoing.
Due to inadequate power supply, many businesses and households in Nigeria rely on diesel- or petrol-powered generators.
Six bodies were discovered on Tuesday morning, while one student found unconscious was rushed to a nearby hospital but later died, according to local media reports.
Residents raised the alarm when they saw the bodies through the studio window.
Police cordoned off the area in the Amarata neighborhood of Yenagoa, the state capital, after removing the bodies.
“Investigations are underway, but carbon monoxide poisoning from generator fumes is a likely cause,” said police spokesperson Musa Mohammed to the BBC.
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.
This is not the first incident of generator fumes causing deaths in Nigeria. In 2009, at least 13 family members, including four children, died after inhaling toxic fumes from a generator in a remote village in Imo state.
Nigerians rely on backup generators for about 40% of their electricity needs, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Despite being a major oil and gas producer, Nigeria’s grid power supplies are often unreliable.
President Bola Tinubu recently mandated all government agencies to purchase only natural gas-powered vehicles and generators as part of efforts to transition to cleaner energy and reduce high fuel costs.
