- Title: Congo Ebola centre set on fire after armed attack
- Date: 28th February 2019
- Summary: BUTEMBO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (FEBRUARY 28, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EBOLA CENTRE DESTROYED BY FIRE BURNT OUT VEHICLE AND MOTORCYCLE OUTSIDE EBOLA CENTRE DESTROYED SECTION OF EBOLA CENTRE DAMAGED SECTION OF EBOLA CENTRE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO HEALTH MINISTER OLY ILUNGA KALENGA TAKING TOUR OF DESTROYED EBOLA CENTRE CONGOLESE SECURITY, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION OFFICIALS AND CONGOLESE HEALTH MINISTRY OFFICIALS VISITING DESTROYED EBOLA CENTRE (SOUNDBITE) (French) CONGO HEALTH MINISTER, OLY ILUNGA KALENGA, SAYING: "I have only one thing to say, we must not forget that Ebola is a fatal illness, an extremely contagious illness. To this day 500 people died, there are entire families in North Kivu who have been decimated. In the West African epidemic, entire villages have disappeared. So, the message is that the teams fighting Ebola are here to ensure the population don't suffer a great loss." DESTROYED EBOLA CENTRE WITH WORKERS LOADING FURNITURE ONTO A LORRY
- Embargoed: 14th March 2019 21:41
- Keywords: Ebola MSF medical centre attack DRC Butembo
- Location: BUTEMBO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- City: BUTEMBO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of the
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001A3I056V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Armed assailants attacked an Ebola treatment centre in Butembo, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on Wednesday (February 27), setting off a fire and becoming embroiled in an extended gun battle with security forces, health ministry officials said.
French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which runs the Butembo centre together with the ministry condemned the attack and said its efforts were focused on the immediate safety of patients and staff. On Thursday (February 28) MSF confirmed it was suspending its activities in the region until further notice.
Congolese health minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga and World Health Organization officials visited the centre on Thursday.
The minister said the MSF teams fighting Ebola are there to ensure the population don't suffer a great loss, with over 500 deaths in the region since the outbreak began in August 2018.
Thirty-eight suspected Ebola patients and 12 confirmed cases were in the Butembo centre at the time of the attack. Four of the patients with confirmed cases fled and are being looked for, officials said.
None of the patients who have been accounted for were injured, nor were any staff members.
Aid workers have faced mistrust in some areas as they work to contain an Ebola outbreak.
The attack in the city of Butembo was the second in Congo's Ebola-hit east this week. On Sunday (February 24) unidentified assailants set fire to a treatment centre in the town of Katwa, killing a nurse.
(Production: Kudra Muliro, Robert Waweru) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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