Furious crowd torches Ebola hospital tents in DR Congo

Published on 22/05/2026 - 10:19 GMT+2

An angry crowd set fire to part of an Ebola hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after relatives of a young man thought to have died from the disease were not allowed to take his body away for burial.

Medical staff at Rwampara hospital refused on the grounds that the body was highly contagious and would have to be buried under a special protocol.

The relatives attempted to torch Ebola tents and threw stones at staff members in protest, with police called to the scene. An employee of an aid organisation was injured during the incident.

The deceased man was said to have been a popular figure in the local community and a talented footballer.

His parents believed he had died from typhoid rather than Ebola, and that burying him would not have posed a risk.

Some villagers do not believe the Ebola virus exists and see it as an invention by outsiders, a local politician told the British press, adding that they thought it had been created as a way to make money.

Rwampara hospital lies near Bunia in the DRC's Ituri province, the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak, which has reportedly killed more than 130 people so far.

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak as a global health emergency but said it does not reach the criteria for a pandemic emergency.

Ebola is a severe and deadly illness first identified in 1976. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 90% of cases of Ebola are fatal. Symptoms can include fever, weakness, diarrhea and vomiting.