Police Clash With Protesters Over Suspected Ebola Victim Burial in Eastern Congo

Police fired warning shots and tear gas during clashes linked to a dispute over the burial of a suspected Ebola victim in northeastern Congo. The victim, a footballer who had played for local teams, was at the center of protests that saw demonstrators burn tents used for Ebola patients, according to Reuters witnesses.

The incident exposed the challenges Congolese authorities face in enforcing safe burial procedures for confirmed and suspected Ebola victims, measures considered critical in containing the outbreak.

The unrest happened in the town of Rwampara, one of the areas hardest hit by the latest Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain, which currently has no approved vaccine or treatment. Ebola victims remain highly infectious after death, and unsafe burials — where relatives handle bodies without protective equipment — are known to fuel the spread of the virus.

The first confirmed case in the current outbreak died in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province, on April 24. The virus later spread after the body was taken back to the nearby town of Mongbwalu, where mourners gathered and touched the body during funeral rites.

Protesters Burn Ebola Treatment Tents

On Thursday morning, relatives of footballer Eli Munongo Wangu rejected plans for a safe burial, insisting he had not died from Ebola and demanding to take his body home, Reuters witnesses reported.Munongo, a popular figure in his community, had been admitted to hospital days earlier. A doctor told Reuters he was considered a suspected Ebola case and samples had been taken for testing.

His mother told Reuters she believed her son had died from typhoid fever rather than Ebola.Family members, friends, and neighbours gathered outside the hospital demanding custody of the body for a traditional burial, despite health authorities insisting all suspected Ebola victims must undergo safe burial procedures, said Jean-Claude Mukendi, a senior police officer overseeing security for the Ebola response in Ituri.Soldiers initially attempted to calm the situation before police intervened with tear gas and warning shots to disperse the crowd, according to witnesses.

The protesters later set fire to two treatment tents operated by medical charity ALIMA, Mukendi said. The tents, fitted with eight beds, were completely destroyed along with another body that had been scheduled for burial that day.

ALIMA said six patients had been receiving treatment in the tents and were later transferred to the hospital for continued care.

Authorities Track Possible Escapees

Batakura Zamundu Mugeni, a local customary chief present during the incident, said authorities were working with health officials to trace patients who may have fled, as well as people who had been in contact with suspected cases.

Mukendi blamed the violence on “young people who do not understand the seriousness of the disease.”

Mistrust and misinformation have repeatedly complicated Ebola response efforts in Congo. During the 2018–2020 outbreak in North Kivu Province — the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded, with nearly 2,300 deaths — hundreds of health centers were attacked by armed groups and angry residents.

The current outbreak, officially declared by the Congolese government on Friday, has already become the country’s third-largest Ebola outbreak on record, with 160 suspected deaths among 670 suspected cases, according to health ministry data released Thursday.

Congo’s national football team has also cancelled World Cup preparation activities in Kinshasa because of the outbreak and will instead continue training in Belgium to comply with U.S. travel restrictions, a team spokesperson said.