Police fired warning shots and tear gas in northeastern Congo after protesters disputed an Ebola diagnosis and destroyed a medical facility.
The unrest erupted in Rwampara over the scheduled burial of Eli Munongo Wangu, a prominent local footballer suspected of having contracted Ebola.
Family members vehemently rejected the diagnosis, asserting that typhoid fever caused the athlete’s death, and demanded custody of the body.
Local authorities insisted on a medically supervised safe burial because bodies of deceased Ebola patients remain highly infectious to handlers.
Angered by the restrictions, friends and neighbors clashed with security forces before setting fire to an adjacent medical treatment center.
The blaze completely destroyed two treatment tents operated by the medical charity ALIMA, incinerating one body awaiting a safe burial.
Six active patients inside the tents were successfully evacuated during the chaos and are currently receiving care at the main hospital.
Health officials and local chiefs are actively conducting contact tracing to locate any vulnerable patients who fled the burning facility.
The outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which medical professionals currently have no approved vaccine or treatment.
This current epidemic has already become the third largest on record, documenting 160 suspected deaths out of 670 reported cases.
Deep-seated mistrust and rampant disinformation continue to severely hamper the Congolese government’s ability to enforce vital pandemic containment protocols.