Kinshasa: Humanitarian workers involved in the Ebola response had to be evacuated early Thursday from an Ebola treatment center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province after violence erupted because of a dead body, according to media reports.
According to Anadolu Agency, ahead of the violence, a pregnant woman reportedly died from anemia at Nyakunde General Hospital, where an Ebola treatment center in Ituri province is located, leading to relatives gathering to demand the body. Moments later, angry community members attacked the center, triggering an exchange of gunfire with security forces after the hospital resisted handing over the body, adhering to health protocols for a dignified and safe burial, as reported by the Actualite news portal, citing a caregiver.
'They ransacked the treatment centre built opposite the hospital, breaking some furniture, including chairs. Four patients fled; only three stayed,' said the caregiver. Security reportedly intervened to calm the situation, but young people appeared agitated, causing fear among the humanitarians who had to be evacuated to safety.
The report further indicated that the humanitarian workers evacuated to Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, were employed by organizations such as Africa CDC, World Health Organization, Samaritan Purse, and FHI 360. Ituri has been central to the fight against Ebola, accounting for nearly 90% of the more than 2,000 confirmed cases recorded to date in the country. However, the response has faced several challenges, including insecurity, attacks on health workers and medical facilities, as well as community mistrust.
The incident came days after the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that violence has injured 45 response and aid workers since the outbreak in Congo in May. OCHA stated its partners recorded injuries in 76 security incidents targeting Ebola response personnel and other aid workers in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces.
UNICEF has urged urgent mobilization of resources to contain the rising cases of Ebola in Congo, warning that 'as the virus progresses, resources are not keeping pace.' Gilles Fagninou, UNICEF's regional director for West and Central Africa, called for stronger collective action and a faster response to contain Ebola, noting that the challenge is not the lack of solutions, but the lack of funding to deploy them at the scale needed. The UN agency indicated that only 25% of the required funding is currently available.