5 children suffocate to death after locking themselves inside car

There was unrest in an area in Minna, the capital city of Niger State, as three children of the same parents, and two others whose ages ranged between five and 10 years, died in an abandoned car.

The abandoned vehicle was a Honda Civic with registration number GO 778 ABC.

It was gathered that the children died following suffocation after they locked themselves inside the car for hours.

It is a common sight to find children in large numbers throwing caution to the wind and playing on the streets of Minna, the state capital.

The incident happened on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in the Gurara Albishir area located on Bida Road when the children entered the vehicle which had been abandoned for two years before the incident and locked themselves inside for over five hours.

An eyewitness in the neighbourhood who gave his name as Bala Usman said the children were playing in a large compound when they hopped into the abandoned car which refused to open.

“They tried to open the car and it refused to open and so they gave up trying. The car had been parked there for about two years by the owner.

“They might have mistakenly locked themselves up from around 11 am while the parents were searching for them only to discover their dead bodies in the car around 4 pm after fruitlessly looking everywhere around the vicinity,” Usman said.

It was gathered that the victims, which included four females and a male, comprised three siblings, one child of the owner of the car, and one other child from the neighbourhood.

In his reaction, the chairman of Chanchaga Local Government Area, Aminu Ladan, confirmed the incident, describing it as unfortunate.

“This is a very unfortunate incident, I must tell you. We pray for the families to be comforted at a time like this,” he said.

Aminu, whose residence is located around the neighbourhood where the incident occurred, immediately visited the scene and condoled with the bereaved families.

Confirming the incident, Niger State Police Command Public Relations Officer (PRO), Wasiu Abiodun, who also reacted to the incident said the owner of the vehicle had been invited for questioning while the matter was under investigation.