A young woman is among eight people found dead in an apartment in Liberia's capital Monrovia, following a party on Wednesday night to celebration her graduation from university.

There were scenes of wailing as hundreds of people gathered outside the apartment block in Paynesville suburb after the bodies - including that of the woman's young daughter and mother - were found in the morning.

“How did it happen?” was the question many grief-stricken people asked.

A police team has been sent to the apartment to investigate, but no official explanation has yet been given for the deaths.

Neighbours told journalists that a power generator had been inside the apartment to provide lights for the graduation party.

A Spoon TV reporter who went into the apartment said he “smelled smoke”.

Some of the bodies were in the living room while the others were elsewhere in the apartment, FrontPage Africa’s TV station reported.

The bodies have been taken to a nearby hospital while investigations continue.