Sep 18, 2014 5:27 PM ETSeven people were killed during rioting in Guinea as members of a mission seeking to educate the population about the Ebola virus were attacked by angry crowds, the West African nation’s premier said.
Those killed in the clashes yesterday in the southern N’Zerekore region included an evangelical pastor, Prime Minister Mohamed Said Fofana said in a televised address today. The delegation was seeking to raise awareness about the deadly viral disease, and encountered a “hostile reaction of citizens who continue to believe that Ebola does not exist, or that it was created to eliminate them,” he said.
Guinea, along with Sierra Leone and Liberia, is among the worst-hit countries in the Ebola epidemic, the worst outbreak of the disease in history. About half of the 5,000 people who’ve been infected have died, and the World Health Organization has warned that the infections may not have peaked. The U.S. is deploying about 3,000 soldiers to West Africa to help efforts against the virus.
Emmanuel Camara, a witness who attended the meeting in the village of Wome that led to the rioting, said the team led by the region’s governor was explaining how to prevent Ebola and avoid contact with suspected cases. Suddenly, a group of young people accused the delegation of spreading the disease in the village, Camara, who fled with his family to escape the violence, said by phone today.
“They attacked with stones and sticks,” he said.
Fofana said two members of the delegation remain missing, while six people have been arrested in connection with the attack. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-18/ebola-riots-in-guinea-leave-seven-dead-premier-says.html
