Six patients who fled during the unrest have been found and are receiving treatment, DR Congo’s government spokesman has said
Protesters have set fire to an Ebola treatment center in conflict-torn eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after being prevented from taking the body of a suspected victim for burial, according to officials.
The incident occurred on Thursday in Rwampara, Ituri Province, one of the epicenters of the latest outbreak. Footage shared on social media and purportedly filmed at the scene show flames and smoke rising from the facility, while gunshots can be heard nearby.
A witness told AP that local youths became angry after trying to retrieve the body of a friend believed to have died of Ebola. Police intervened but reportedly failed to defuse the situation, the witness said. An AP journalist reported seeing people enter the center and setting objects on fire, along with what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim. Aid workers fled in vehicles.
Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said six patients who were reported missing during the unrest were found and are receiving care at Rwampara General Referral Hospital.
READ MORE: WHO declares global Ebola emergency
“In the confusion, fearing for their safety, six patients were no longer visible,” Muyaya wrote on X. Security measures have been reinforced, and calm returned to the facility, he added, urging residents to follow the instructions of Ebola response teams.
The authorities say the bodies of suspected Ebola victims must be handled under strict burial protocols because they can remain highly infectious.
?? In the DR Congo they set fire to the center for treating Ebola patients.The fire was started by relatives of one of the patients who died from the virus after they were forbidden to take his body, CNN reports. pic.twitter.com/hsJrFqXpWP
— RusWar (@ruswar) May 22, 2026The DR Congo declared the outbreak on May 15, its 17th recorded Ebola epidemic since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976. Officials have reported 160 suspected deaths and 671 suspected cases, mainly in Ituri and North Kivu, with new cases also emerging in South Kivu.
The World Health Organization declared the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in DR Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on May 17, but said it does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency. The strain has no licensed vaccine or specific treatment, although early supportive care can improve survival.
READ MORE: US blocks travelers from Ebola outbreak zones
Uganda has reported two confirmed cases, including one death. The US has imposed travel restrictions on people who have recently been to DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan, requiring eligible entrants to undergo screening at Washington Dulles International Airport.
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