STORY: A crowd set fire to Ebola isolation tents and attacked a hospital in the northeastern Congolese town of Rwampara on Thursday (May 21) after a dispute erupted over the burial of a man suspected of dying from the disease, Reuters witnesses and officials said.

The violence comes as authorities struggle to contain the latest Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the World Health Organization said on Wednesday there were 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths linked to the virus in Congo and Uganda.

The outbreak, centred in Ituri province where Rwampara is located, involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved vaccine. Health officials say safe burials are critical to containing the disease because Ebola can spread through direct contact with the bodies of infected victims.

Witnesses said a crowd gathered outside Rwampara hospital demanding the body of a man named Elie before tensions escalated into violence. Reuters witnesses saw the remains of burnt tents previously used as an Ebola isolation centre, while police officers inspected the damage and described how an ambulance had been attacked.

“They started throwing stones and set fire to the tents,” resident Leopold Katabuka said, adding that his own son’s body, which was at the site awaiting burial, had also been burned during the unrest. “With this Ebola business it's complicated,” he said.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Crowd burns Ebola isolation tents in Congo after burial dispute

VIDEO SHOWS: PEOPLE OUTSIDE HOSPITAL DEMANDING BODY OF EBOLA VICTIM / REMAINS OF BURNT EBOLA ISOLATION TENT / SOUNDBITES FROM LOCAL RESIDENT AND EBOLA RESPONSE SECURITY COORDINATOR / POLICE AT SCENE

SHOWS: RWAMPARA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (MAY 21, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE RWAMPARA HOSPITAL ASKING FOR BODY OF SOMEONE WHO DIED FROM EBOLA / SOLDIER TRYING TO CALM SITUATION

2. VARIOUS OF REMAINS OF TENT USED AS EBOLA ISOLATION CENTRE AFTER BEING SET ON FIRE BY CROWD

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) RWAMPARA RESIDENT, LEOPOLD KATABUKA, SAYING:

"We came to bury my son and then we saw these people coming in numbers asking for the body of someone called Elie, they started throwing stones and set fire to the tents, and my son's body was left burned there, I don't know what to do, if you look closely you will see a burned body, that's my son, we had already prepared the coffin there, you see, with this Ebola business it's complicated."

4. VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS INTERVENING AT BURNT SITE

5. VARIOUS OF REMAINS OF BURNT TENT WITH BED USED FOR EBOLA ISOLATION

6. POLICE OFFICER EXPLAINING TO SUPERIOR HOW CROWD ATTACKED AMBULANCE

7. (SOUNDBITE) (French) DEPUTY HEAD OF PUBLIC SECURITY DEPARTMENT OF ITURI PROVINCE AND SECURITY COORDINATOR OF THE EBOLA RESPONSE, JEAN-CLAUDE MUKENDI, SAYING:

"After an alert at headquarters that there was a disturbance of public order at the Rompara health centre, we rushed to see the reality of the situation on the ground. On our arrival, I think you are witnesses with us, we saw the damage. There are tents with eight beds that had been set up as part of the response to the Ebola virus disease, which have been completely burned. And then there is a body that was due to be buried during the day, which was also burned. And this is precisely a misunderstanding due to young people who do not understand the reality of this disease."

8. VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICER EXPLAINING TO SUPERIOR HOW CROWD ATTACKED AMBULANCE

9 RWAMPARA HOSPITAL