Protesters burned Ebola treatment tents after authorities in Congo refused to release the body of a suspected victim for a traditional burial, a popular local footballer believed to have died in the ongoing outbreak, Reuters witnesses said.
Police fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse crowds in Ituri province, underscoring the challenges authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo face in enforcing safe burial protocols for confirmed and suspected Ebola cases, measures seen as critical to containing the virus.
The unrest took place in Rwampara, a town hard hit by the latest outbreak driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.
Bodies of Ebola victims are highly infectious after death, and unsafe burials, in which family members handle the body without proper protective equipment, are a major driver of transmission.
The first known case in the current outbreak died in Bunia, Ituri’s provincial capital, on April 24. The virus spread after his body was returned to Mongbwalu, where mourners gathered around him and touched the body during the funeral.
Protesters burn tents receiving patients
The family of footballer Eli Munongo Wangu on Thursday refused a safe burial, disputed that he died of Ebola and demanded custody of his body. Authorities later buried him overnight into Friday despite the family’s protests.
Munongo played for several local teams and was a well-known figure in his neighborhood. He had been admitted to hospital days earlier. A doctor told Reuters he was a suspected Ebola case and samples were taken for testing.
His mother told Reuters she believed he died of typhoid fever, not Ebola.
Family members, friends and neighbors gathered outside the hospital to retrieve the body and bury it themselves, against instructions that all bodies must be handled under safe burial procedures, said Jean-Claude Mukendi, a senior police officer coordinating security for the response in Ituri.
Soldiers initially tried to defuse the tension before police intervened, firing tear gas and warning shots to disperse the crowd, Reuters witnesses said.
The crowd then set fire to two tents fitted with eight beds run by medical charity ALIMA, Mukendi said, before army and police reinforcements arrived to restore order.
The tents were completely destroyed, along with a body that was scheduled for burial that day. Six patients who had been receiving care in the tents are now being treated at the hospital, ALIMA said in a statement.
Contact tracing after patients flee
Batakura Zamundu Mugeni, a local customary chief present at the scene, said authorities were working with health officials to trace any patients who may have fled, as well as their contacts.
Mukendi blamed the unrest on young people who, he said, did not understand the severity of the disease.
Mistrust and misinformation have long complicated Ebola responses in Congo. During the 2018-2020 outbreak in North Kivu province, hundreds of health facilities were attacked by armed groups and angry civilians. That outbreak was the second deadliest on record, killing nearly 2,300 people.
The current outbreak, declared by the Congolese government on Friday, is already among the largest on record, with 160 suspected deaths out of 670 suspected cases, according to Health Ministry data published Thursday.
The national football team has been forced to cancel World Cup buildup events in Kinshasa due to the outbreak and will instead continue preparations in Belgium to comply with U.S. travel restrictions, a team spokesperson said.