Angry Crowd Sets Ebola Treatment Centre On Fire In Rwampara, Ituri Province, DR Congo

An angry crowd set fire to an Ebola treatment centre in Rwampara on Thursday in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after family and friends of a young man thought to have died from the virus were prevented from taking his body away for burial.

“The deceased man was a well-known footballer, and confusion about his cause of death (Ebola vs”

ABP News

Local politician Luc Malembe Malembe told the BBC, "They started throwing projectiles at the hospital. They even set fire to tents that were being used as isolation wards," describing police firing warning shots to disperse the crowd.

ABP News

The BBC reported that medical workers at Rwampara hospital, near Bunia in Ituri province, were placed under military protection as police moved in to restore order.

The Al Jazeera report said the attack took place in Rwampara in Ituri province after authorities refused to release the body of a friend believed to have died from Ebola, and a group of young men then set fire to parts of the facility.

Al Jazeera quoted Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was nearby, saying, "The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful," as the young people ended up setting fire to the centre.

The BBC said the crowd did not believe the virus was real, with Malembe telling the programme that "People are not properly informed or sensitised about what is happening," and that Ebola was viewed by some as "an invention by outsiders - it does not exist."

In the same BBC account, Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner called the scene "a very frightening situation" for communities and said authorities were "ramping up" activity to ensure communities feel safe, understood and heard.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported that Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of public security in Ituri province, said, "All bodies must be buried according to the regulations," after describing families, friends, and other young people wanting to take a body home for a funeral.

Al Jazeera also quoted Hama Amadou, field coordinator for ALIMA, saying calm was later restored and that aid workers had resumed operations after the incident.

The BBC added that a healthcare worker was injured by stone-throwing protesters, and that the body of a dead Ebola victim is highly infectious and authorities need to ensure safe burial to stop the spread of the virus.

The BBC said the WHO has called the outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern" and reported that on Friday it said 177 people in DR Congo were thought to have died from Ebola, out of 750 suspected cases.

The Al Jazeera report said the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, warning that violence, population displacement and community mistrust are hampering efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

The BBC reported that in DR Congo's neighbour, Uganda, authorities confirmed two cases of Ebola while one person was suspected to have died, and that Uganda temporarily suspended flights, buses and all other public transport crossing the border.

Reuters witnesses cited by Daily Sabah said the unrest took place in Rwampara in Ituri province and that the outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.

Daily Sabah reported that the first known case in the current outbreak died in Bunia, Ituri’s provincial capital, on April 24, and that the virus spread after his body was returned to Mongbwalu where mourners gathered around and touched the body during the funeral.