Angry crowd sets Ebola hospital tents on fire in the Democratic Republic of Congo after family and friends of a young man, believed to have died from the virus, were prevented from taking his body away for burial, the BBC reported.

Violence Erupts at Rwampara General Hospital

Local politician Luc Malembe Malembe described the scene at Rwampara General Hospital, where an angry crowd threw projectiles and set fire to tents used as isolation wards, according to the BBC.

In the chaos, police fired warning shots to disperse the crowd, the report added.

Concerns Over Safe Burial Practices

The body of an Ebola victim is highly infectious, and authorities must ensure safe burial to prevent the virus from spreading further, according to the BBC.

Medical workers at the hospital, located near Bunia in Ituri province, were placed under military protection as police moved in to restore order, the report said.

A healthcare worker was injured by stone-throwing protesters before law enforcement agents intervened, according to a hospital worker who spoke to the AFP news agency.

The man who died was a popular figure in the local community, and those upset by his death did not “grasp the reality of the disease,” said Jean Claude Mukendi, who is coordinating the security response to Ebola in Ituri, the Associated Press reported.

Witnesses told Reuters that the young man was a footballer who had played with several local teams, and his mother believed her son had died of typhoid fever, not Ebola, the news agency added.

Malembe said the crowd did not believe the virus, which has killed more than 130 in eastern DR Congo, was real, according to the BBC.

“People are not properly informed or sensitised about what is happening; For a certain segment of the population, especially in remote areas, Ebola is an invention by outsiders – it does not exist,” the politician said.

He said two tents had been burned down, along with a body that had been due to be buried, the BBC reported.

Efforts to Contain the Outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends “safe and dignified burials” for Ebola victims, with trained teams using protective equipment to handle bodies, according to the BBC.

Six patients had been receiving treatment in the tents on the hospital grounds, and it was reported they may have fled during the chaos, the report added.

The WHO has called it a “public health emergency of international concern,” but said it was not at pandemic level, according to the BBC.

On Wednesday, the WHO said 139 people in DR Congo were thought to have died from Ebola, out of 600 suspected cases, the report said.

However, on the same day, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told state broadcaster RTNC TV that authorities had registered 159 deaths, the BBC reported.

Two cases of the virus have been detected in DR Congo’s neighbour, Uganda, and the authorities there have temporarily suspended flights, buses and all other public transport crossing the border as a result of the outbreak, according to the BBC.

Passenger ferries are also not permitted on the Semliki River, which forms part of the border between DR Congo and Uganda, the report added.

The outbreak has been caused by a rare species of Ebola known as Bundibugyo. There is currently no vaccine for this species, and the WHO has said it could take up to nine months for a jab to be ready, according to the BBC.

On Thursday, the M23 rebel group said it had confirmed the first case of Ebola in the South Kivu province, which is hundreds of kilometres away from the epicentre in Ituri, according to a rebel statement.

The 28-year-old, who had travelled from Kisangani, died before the diagnosis was confirmed, the statement said.

Kisangani is a large city in north-central Tshopo province where no Ebola infections have currently been recorded, according to the report.

There are growing concerns about access to areas under M23 control, the BBC reported.

The group has never managed a crisis like Ebola, but has said it will work with international partners to contain the virus, according to the report.