Congo Ebola centre set on fire after armed attack, MSF says

Record ID: 1397589

  • Title: Congo Ebola centre set on fire after armed attack, MSF says
  • Date: 28th February 2019
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (FEBRUARY 28, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) EMERGENCY CELL COORDINATOR FOR MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF), GWENOLA SEROUX, SAYING: "We're still investigating, it (the attack) was quite well organised. They set fire to areas that were not for treatment, like the changing and utility rooms, which were burned down. But in any case the treatment centre is no longer operational whatsoever. What you need to keep in mind is that last night at about 0530, the other treatment centre in Butembo, which is managed by MSF teams in collaboration with the health ministry, was also attacked in the same way."
  • Embargoed: 14th March 2019 13:50
  • Keywords: MSF Ebola outbreak Democratic Republic of Congo Ebola treatment centre armed attack aid workers Medecins Sans Frontieres
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE / BENI, KATWA AND BUTEMBO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
  • City: PARIS, FRANCE / BENI, KATWA AND BUTEMBO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA005A3HYREV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Armed assailants attacked an Ebola treatment centre in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday (February 27), setting off a fire and becoming embroiled in an extended gunbattle with security forces, French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said at their headquarters in Paris.
    Emergency cell coordinator for MSF Gwenola Seroux said 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 nearby town of Katwa, killing a nurse.
    MSF which runs the centre together with the country's health ministry, condemned the "deplorable attack" and said its efforts were focused on the immediate safety of patients and staff.
    The Democratic Republic of Congo's health ministry said in a statement that 38 suspected Ebola patients and 12 confirmed cases were in the centre at the time of the attack. Four of the patients with confirmed cases fled and are being looked for, it said.
    None of the patients who have been accounted for were injured, nor were any staff members, the ministry added.
    The identity and motive of the assailants were unclear.
    Aid workers have faced mistrust in some areas as they work to contain an Ebola outbreak.
    Dozens of armed militia also regularly attack civilians and security forces in eastern Congo's borderlands with Uganda and Rwanda, which has significantly hampered the response to the disease.
    An MSF emergency worker said the question of security is a daily challenge.
    The current Ebola outbreak, first declared last August, is the second deadliest of the haemorrhagic fever since it was discovered in Congo in 1976. It is believed to have killed at least 553 people so far and infected over 300 more.
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