An angry crowd set fire to parts of a hospital at the centre of an Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after relatives of a young man, suspected to have died from the virus, were stopped from taking his body for burial, as per a BBC report.
Police fired warning shots in an attempt to disperse the crowd as chaos unfolded. According to local politician Luc Malembe, the unrest was fuelled by widespread scepticism over the Ebola virus outbreak among sections of the local population.
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Malembe, who witnessed the incident at Rwampara General Hospital near Bunia in Ituri province, said the situation quickly escalated into violence. He said people began throwing stones and other objects at the hospital before setting fire to tents being used as isolation wards, according to the report.
“People are not properly informed or sensitised about what is happening,” he said. “For a certain segment of the population, especially in remote areas, Ebola is an invention by outsiders—it does not exist.”
At least two medical tents were reportedly destroyed in the fire, along with a body that was awaiting a safe burial. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends strict “safe and dignified burials” for Ebola victims to prevent further infections.
Six patients were being treated in the affected tents at the time of the unrest. While there were initial concerns they may have fled, medical charity Alima later confirmed all patients were safe and being cared for at the hospital.
Healthcare workers at the facility were placed under military protection following the attack. One hospital worker told AFP a medical staff member was injured in the stone-throwing before security forces restored order, according to BBC.
Officials said the deceased man, reportedly a footballer, was well known in the community, and that the cause of his death was widely misunderstood, with some believing it was caused by typhoid rather than Ebola.
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WHO has classified the outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern”, though not at pandemic level. So far, hundreds of suspected cases and over 130 deaths have been reported in eastern DR Congo, with neighbouring Uganda also detecting infections and tightening border restrictions.
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