Two people are said to have died in Sierra Leone after a riot which was caused by youths preventing health workers from testing a suspected Ebola patient
(Sylvain Cherkaoui/Cosmos)
A riot in the Koidu area of Sierra Leone has led to 2 deaths after youths prevented health workers from testing an elderly woman suspected to have Ebola and later went on a rampage shouting "No more Ebola!"
A medical team had tried to take a blood sample from the 90-year-old mother of a youth leader, identified as Adamu Eze, on Tuesday, October 21, but their efforts were resisted by residents loyal to her son, AFP reports.
The health workers called security personnel to take control of the situation but it degenerated into a riot leaving 2 people dead and 10 injured.
A witness said:
"Ebola contact tracers visited the house of a prominent youth leader to take a blood sample of his ailing 90-year-old mother but were barred by a gang of youths"
A doctor at the Koidu Government Hospital confirmed the receipt of the victims’ corpses:
"Two bodies are now at the mortuary. I cannot say whether they have bullet wounds or what caused their deaths as the corpses have not yet been examined."
He added that other people had been brought to the hospital with minor injuries.
A curfew was reportedly imposed in the area after the youth attacked buildings in the area and roamed the streets shouting "No more Ebola!"
Ebola has killed about 4500 people in West Africa with Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea being the worst hit.
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