A demonstrator has been shot during a protest in the Kenyan town of Nanyuki against the construction of an Ebola quarantine centre for US citizens, witnesses have told journalists.

Protesters Demand Cancellation of the Plan

A protest leader told the Reuters news agency that police shot dead the demonstrator. The police have not yet commented.

Groups of protesters, who were waving Kenyan flags, carrying placards and holding a coffin with the word “Ebola” written on the side, had been demanding that the US plan to build the health facility at a nearby military base be reversed. The police had fired tear gas to break up the demonstration.

The AFP news agency reports that on Tuesday there were running battles in Nanyuki – about 200km (125 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi – as protesters clashed with police. Its journalists heard gunshots and saw a man who had been shot in the head lying motionless, AFP says.

Concerns Over Cross-Border Infection Risks

Reuters reports that two of its journalists saw the body of the man in the back of a police vehicle, but they did not witness the shooting themselves. The US plan has sparked public concern in Kenya about cross-border infection risks and the lack of transparency from the government about the treatment centre.

Protester Priscilla Imani told Reuters that the US plan has affected Nanyuki and the wider Laikipia county with people being afraid to visit. “My message is this, Laikipia is not a dumping site and our voices must be heard,” she said.

The proposed 50-bed isolation centre is to be staffed by US medics and is intended to treat Americans affected by the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A US official told the BBC that Kenya was selected due to “proximity, airports in the region having limited capability, and to ensure Americans can be treated in a timely manner”.

Legal Challenges and Continued Construction

The Congolese city of Bunia, the epicentre of the outbreak, is 780km (485 miles) from Nanyuki, with Uganda separating DR Congo and Kenya. DR Congo has so far recorded some 600 confirmed Ebola cases and 100 deaths. Kenya has not recorded any cases.

President William Ruto defended the plan saying he had received a request from the US to establish the centre and a refusal would be “inhuman.” He called on Kenyans not to politicise a matter “so serious” as Ebola, asking politicians to avoid “reckless” talk about it.

Satellite imagery seen by the BBC show that construction has continued at the airbase despite the court halting it. The US official last week said the administration was aware of the court case but “optimistic we can resolve objections”.

A man has been shot in the head during a protest in a town in central Kenya against a proposed Ebola quarantine facility for US citizens. Photographs from the scene appeared to show a person lying motionless on the ground. Dozens of people had gathered near Laikipia airbase, the proposed site of the centre in Nanyuki, 120 miles from the capital, Nairobi, some wearing protective equipment and carrying a coffin with “Ebola” written on it.

Several people were arrested and police used teargas to disperse the small crowds. Protesters have said they oppose the centre partly on the grounds that they do not want potential carriers of the highly contagious disease on Kenyan soil. There has been rising nationwide anger in recent weeks. Two people were killed during a protest in the town on Monday last week.

The US government plans to send 30 medical personnel to staff the Nanyuki facility, which, if completed, will have 50 beds. After a petition by the Kenyan nonprofit Katiba Institute, a Nairobi court late last month temporarily blocked the establishment of the facility and the admission into the country of people exposed to Ebola. Last week, it barred the Kenyan government from proceeding with the plan before the case is resolved. The next hearing is due on 23 June.

Kenya’s president, William Ruto, has vowed to press ahead, saying the country owes Washington for years of aid support. Health officials in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are battling to contain an outbreak of the virus. The outbreak was declared on 15 May but the virus is thought to have been circulating undetected for weeks before then. The epidemic, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern, is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no vaccine or approved treatment.

As of 6 June, the DRC had reported a total of 515 confirmed cases, with 91 deaths, while Uganda had reported 19 confirmed cases, including two deaths, as well as one probable case who has died, according to WHO figures. There have been no known cases in Kenya.

Violence and Continued Construction

Gunshots, water cannon and tear gas have been used by Kenya’s police in the central town of Nanyuki, where hundreds of protesters lit fires and hurled stones at law enforcement officers as they demonstrated against a quarantine centre for US citizens exposed to Ebola. Tuesday’s violence came as the proposed quarantine centre at the town’s Laikipia Air Base has caused anger among Kenyans who accuse the United States of shifting the risks of caring for people exposed to the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda onto Kenya.

Kenya has never recorded a case of Ebola, and many residents oppose bringing potential carriers of the virus into the country. The centre is designed to have 50 isolation beds, run by US staff, and was nearing completion late last week. Construction has continued despite a temporary halt order from Kenya’s High Court and vocal opposition from local politicians. President William Ruto’s government has pledged to press ahead with the project, arguing that Kenya owes Washington for years of financial and technical support. The US has committed $13.5m to support Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts.