Second Ebola treatment centre torched in Congo, 18 suspected patients flee

Residents attacked Ebola treatment sites in Mongbwalu and Rwampara as tensions surged. The violence has disrupted containment efforts and raised fears of wider transmission.

In Short

• Eighteen suspected patients fled during the Mongbwalu facility panic and remain untraced
• Controlled burials are clashing with local customs, deepening resentment in communities
• Armed police guarded Ebola burials as relatives watched from a distance

Tensions are escalating in northeastern Congo as fear and anger over the Ebola outbreak spill into violence, with two treatment facilities attacked within days and health workers struggling to contain the spread of the virus.

In the mining town of Mongbwalu, enraged residents stormed a medical facility late Friday and set fire to a treatment tent used for Ebola patients. The structure, operated by humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, was part of a hospital treating suspected and confirmed infections, AP reported.

The attack triggered chaos inside the facility, forcing patients and staff to flee. While no injuries were immediately reported, hospital officials said 18 people suspected of carrying the virus escaped during the panic and remain missing.

Hospital director Dr. Richard Lokudi condemned the incident, warning that the disappearance of suspected cases could worsen transmission in surrounding communities.

The violence followed another attack a day earlier in another town, Rwampara, where an Ebola treatment centre was burned after local families were prevented from retrieving the body of a man believed to have died from the disease.

Health authorities say Ebola victims remain highly infectious after death, making traditional funeral rituals a major source of transmission. Efforts by officials and aid agencies to enforce controlled burials have increasingly clashed with local customs, fuelling resentment among residents.

On Saturday, authorities carried out a tightly guarded communal burial for Ebola victims in Rwampara. Armed police and soldiers surrounded the cemetery as Red Cross teams in protective suits buried sealed coffins, while grieving relatives watched from a distance.

David Basima, a Red Cross official overseeing burial operations, said response teams faced hostility from sections of the community and had to request security assistance after encountering resistance from local youth groups.

As the outbreak deepens, Congo’s authorities have imposed restrictions across affected areas, including bans on funeral wakes and public gatherings of more than 50 people.

The World Health Organisation has now classified the outbreak as posing a “very high” national risk, although the global threat level remains low. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said confirmed infections and deaths are continuing to rise, while the true scale of the outbreak is believed to be significantly larger than current figures indicate.

The outbreak is linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no approved vaccine exists. Health officials say the virus circulated undetected for weeks in Ituri province after initial testing focused on a more common Ebola strain and failed to identify the infection.

Authorities are currently investigating hundreds of suspected cases and deaths as surveillance expands across the region.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also reported that three of its volunteers in Mongbwalu died after contracting the virus while handling bodies during a humanitarian mission in March — a development that could suggest the outbreak began earlier than previously believed.

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