Armed young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients in eastern Congo on Sunday evening, forcing medical staff to evacuate patients as gunfire erupted. The attack targeted the Mongbwalu General Hospital, the epicentre of the latest outbreak.
Dr Richard Lokudu, the hospital's medical director, told the Associated Press that the attackers demanded the bodies of two relatives be handed over. The facility was placed on general alert, though it was not immediately known if anyone was injured.
The incident marks the third attack on healthcare facilities in a week, highlighting the challenges of containing the outbreak, which the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency of international concern. Bodies of Ebola victims are highly contagious, and authorities have mandated official burials to prevent further spread, often sparking protests.
On Saturday, a group of residents in Mongbwalu set fire to a tent set up by Doctors Without Borders for suspected Ebola cases, causing 18 patients to flee. On Thursday, another treatment centre in Rwampara was burned down after families were barred from retrieving a body.
The Congolese Ministry of Communication reported 904 suspected Ebola cases, mostly in Ituri Province, and 119 suspected deaths, though regional figures totalled 220. The discrepancy could not be immediately explained. No vaccine is available for the Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola strain that spread undetected for weeks.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported that three volunteers died from the outbreak in Mongbwalu, believed to have contracted the virus on March 27 while handling bodies unrelated to Ebola, which could push back the outbreak timeline.
