A mass fatality event took the lives of six guests and the groom at a wedding in the rural community of Eka Utara in Enugu State, Nigeria, on Saturday, while another eight were left hospitalized, including the bride. An unnamed doctor who received some of the patients told Nigerian newspaper Vanguard that five of them had also died while receiving care. According to reports, the guests began showing symptoms when they returned home from the wedding ceremony to continue the celebration. Officials say they were found the next morning “unconscious with foamy discharge from their mouths,” according a statement by Enugu State Command. There seems to be no clear reason why the crowd fell so violently ill, though an anonymous source in the community told Vanguard that prevailing theories include food poisoning, carbon dioxide poisoning from the nearby power generator, or ingested insecticide. “We are really in a state of confusion now,” the source told the outlet. Authorities are awaiting autopsy results to find the cause of the tragedy.
