Mob kills men in Guinea suspected of spreading Ebola
Two men were killed and their bodies burned by an angry mob in Guinea convinced that the victims infected a local with Ebola.
It is the latest case of violence spurred by the deadly disease, police said Wednesday.
Residents of the western village of Dar-es-Salaam attacked a group of three police officers and their driver who stopped there on Saturday while on their way to a funeral.
During their visit, one in the group gave a sedative to a local healer who was suffering from an undescribed illness. After the healer died his wife called for help from locals, who responded violently, Guinea police Commissioner Boubacar Kasse told AFP.
The villagers grabbed machetes and clubs and beat the victims to death before setting their bodies and vehicle on fire, Comm Kasse said.
He added that at least one local shouted: “You came from Conakry (Guinea’s capital) to spread Ebola to our village.”
Recovering in hospital
The other police officers survived the attack and were recovering in hospital.
Violent reactions to Ebola are frequent in Guinea, especially in the south, where tensions are high between local groups and the central government.
The most violent incident came in September 2014 in the southwestern village of Womey when eight members of an Ebola prevention campaign were killed by locals.
During the violence residents screamed the disease was a “white conspiracy.”
Source: AFP
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