Angry protesters have attacked and burned tents at an Ebola treatment center in Ituri province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in an attempt to retrieve the bodies of their relatives who died of the disease, reports Anadolu.

According to local official Luc Malembe, violence broke out at Rwampara hospital, on the outskirts of Ituri’s provincial capital, Bunia, after families of Ebola victims demanded their bodies for burial, disputing reports that the deceased had died of Ebola.

“Crowds gathered outside the hospital and when they were denied the bodies of their relatives, they set fire to several tents housing Ebola patients, forcing police to use tear gas and fire warning shots,” the official told reporters in the town of Rwampara.

Malembe called for more much community awareness to sensitize the population about the disease in a region that already faces major security challenges.

The violence mirrors incidents in 2020, when several health centers were attacked by armed groups and angry civilians during the 2018 Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, due to mistrust of medical workers.

The disease outbreak was officially declared on 15 May in the Ituri province of eastern Congo. Since then, Congolese health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) have reported about 600 suspected cases and 139 possible deaths.

The outbreak has since spread to North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. Two imported cases involving Congolese nationals have been reported in neighboring Uganda.

The Director General of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Jean Kaseya called on people on Thursday to strictly adhere to preventive measures.

Speaking in Bunia, he reaffirmed the commitment of African partners in the fight against Ebola. “We have highly motivated and expert teams on the ground and we will strengthen them to manage this epidemic,” he said.

Last Sunday, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo variant, a global health emergency after a rise in the number of suspected infections and deaths in eastern Congo.

Source: prizrenpost