Protesters in eastern DR Congo allegedly torched a hospital after authorities refused to release the bodies of Ebola victims for burial….reports Africa News desk
Violence erupted in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province after tensions flared over the handling of victims from the latest Ebola outbreak, with protesters reportedly setting fire to a hospital in the town of Rwampara.
The unrest began after residents attempted to recover the bodies of relatives who had died from Ebola in order to conduct burials, but were prevented from doing so by authorities.
According to Africanews, protesters responded by torching the hospital, while video footage shared by a healthcare worker appeared to show security forces moving in to retake control of the facility.
The incident comes as officials confirmed the first Ebola case in South Kivu province, an area controlled by the M23 rebel group. An M23 spokesperson said on Thursday that tests had confirmed a positive Ebola case in the provincial capital Bukavu.
The spokesperson said the infected person had arrived from Kisangani in eastern Tshopo province, where no cases linked to the current outbreak had previously been recorded.
Efforts to contain the outbreak have been complicated by prolonged conflict in eastern DR Congo, including clashes between the Congolese military and the M23 militia.
The M23 group, which controls large parts of the mineral rich eastern region, has established parallel administrative structures in territories under its control. However, the group has limited experience handling a major epidemic such as Ebola.
According to Africanews, the World Health Organization has declared the latest Ebola outbreak an international emergency. WHO figures show that at least 139 people have died, while nearly 600 probable cases have been identified in the current outbreak.
Ebola is a highly infectious haemorrhagic disease that has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa over the past five decades.
