Ebola treatment centre set on fire in Congo amid anger over virus outbreak

An Ebola treatment centre in eastern Congo was set ablaze on Thursday by angry residents, after they were prevented from retrieving the body of a local man.

The incident, confirmed by a witness and a senior police officer, underscores the escalating fear and resentment surrounding the health crisis that medical professionals are struggling to contain.

This act of arson in Rwampara starkly illustrates the immense challenges faced by health workers. Their stringent measures, crucial for curbing the rare Ebola virus, frequently clash with deeply ingrained local customs, particularly traditional burial rites.

The disease has been spreading for weeks across a region already grappling with inadequate health facilities and widespread displacement due to armed conflict.

Authorities are compelled to manage the burials of suspected victims wherever possible, as the bodies of those who succumb to Ebola remain highly contagious.

This policy aims to prevent further transmission, which often occurs when communities prepare bodies for burial and gather for funerals.

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However, this vital public health strategy is proving deeply unpopular with grieving families and friends, who are denied the opportunity to perform traditional rites for their loved ones.

The Rwampara centre was reportedly set alight by local youths, enraged after being stopped from retrieving the body of a friend believed to have died from Ebola, according to an eyewitness who spoke to The Associated Press.

“The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful,” said Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area. "The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation.”

An AP journalist saw people break into the center and set fire to objects inside and also to what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim that was being stored there. Aid workers fled the treatment center in vehicles.

Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department, Ituri Province, said it was due to youths who didn't understand the protocols required for burying suspected Ebola victims.

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“His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear," Mukendi said. "All bodies must be buried according to the regulations."

Hama Amadou, the field Coordinator for the humanitarian organisation ALIMA, which had teams working at the center, said later that calm had been restored and the aid teams were continuing their work at the center.

The flash of anger underlined the complications faced by both Congolese authorities and an array of aid agencies trying to stem an outbreak the World Health Organisation has declared a public health emergency of international concern.

There are 148 suspected deaths and nearly 600 suspected cases, according to the UN, with two cases including one death in neighboring Uganda. But the head of the WHO has said the outbreak is almost certainly much larger and has also expressed concern over the speed of the spread.

The risk of the outbreak spreading globally is low, the WHO has said, but high regionally with the Ituri Province at the center of the outbreak bordering Uganda and South Sudan.

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