Angry Crowd Sets Ebola Isolation Tents Ablaze in DR Congo

An angry crowd set fire to part of a hospital at the centre of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after relatives and supporters of a young man believed to have died from the virus attempted to remove his body for burial.

The unrest occurred at Rwampara General Hospital near the city of Bunia in Ituri Province, where most of the country’s Ebola cases have been recorded.

“They started throwing projectiles at the hospital. They even set fire to tents that were being used as isolation wards,” local politician Luc Malembe Malembe told the BBC.

Police fired warning shots to disperse the crowd as tensions escalated, while medical personnel at the hospital were later placed under military protection.

Health authorities insist that the bodies of Ebola victims must be handled under strict safety procedures because they remain highly infectious after death.

According to a hospital worker quoted by AFP news agency, a healthcare worker was injured during the violence after protesters threw stones before security operatives intervened.

Jean Claude Mukendi, who coordinates the security response to Ebola in Ituri, told the Associated Press that the deceased was a well-known figure in the local community and that many residents “did not grasp the reality of the disease.”

Witnesses quoted by Reuters said the victim was a footballer who had played for several local teams. His mother reportedly told the news agency she believed her son died of typhoid fever rather than Ebola.

Malembe said misinformation and distrust remained major obstacles in containing the outbreak.

“People are not properly informed or sensitised about what is happening. For a certain segment of the population, especially in remote areas, Ebola is an invention by outsiders — it does not exist,” he said.

“They believe it is the NGOs and hospitals creating this to make money, and this is tragic.”

He added that two tents were destroyed in the fire, along with a body that had been prepared for burial.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends “safe and dignified burials” for Ebola victims, requiring trained teams equipped with protective gear.

Although six patients were reportedly receiving treatment in the tents at the time of the attack, medical charity Alima later said all patients had been accounted for and were continuing treatment at the hospital.

The unrest comes amid growing concern over the spread of the outbreak. DR Congo’s national football team has already cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in Kinshasa because of the health crisis.

The WHO has classified the outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern,” although it says the situation has not reached pandemic status.

On Wednesday, the WHO reported 139 suspected Ebola deaths out of about 600 suspected cases in DR Congo. However, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba later told state broadcaster RTNC that authorities had recorded 159 deaths.

Two Ebola cases have also been confirmed in neighbouring Uganda, prompting authorities there to temporarily suspend cross-border flights, buses, ferries, and other transport links with affected areas.

The outbreak has been linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved vaccine. The WHO says it could take up to nine months for a vaccine to become available.

Meanwhile, the M23 rebel group, which controls parts of eastern DR Congo, announced on Thursday that the first Ebola case had been confirmed in South Kivu Province, several hundred kilometres from the outbreak’s epicentre in Ituri.

According to the group, the infected 28-year-old had travelled from Kisangani and died before the diagnosis was confirmed.

Health officials and humanitarian organisations have expressed concern about access to areas under rebel control as efforts continue to contain the spread of the virus.

Source: BBC