Politician Beaten To D£ath After Speaking About Ebola On Radio
Politician Beaten To D£ath After Speaking About Ebola On Radio
Marie-Celestin Karondwa, acting president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party’s federal executive committee in Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has reportedly been beaten to death after speaking about the Ebola outbreak on radio.
According to Reuters, Karondwa was attacked by residents of his neighbourhood on Sunday after appearing on a radio programme where he promoted measures to prevent the spread of Ebola.
The UDPS federation in Butembo said Karondwa was beaten, robbed of his belongings and his house was subsequently set on fire. He later died from injuries sustained during the attack.
The party described him as “an innocent victim for having defended the party’s position on the existence of the Ebola virus disease (…) and the threat it poses to the population.”
It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, how many people were involved or what motivated the assault. The mayor of Butembo also did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
Karondwa’s death comes amid continuing attacks on Ebola response teams and health facilities in the DRC, where mistrust and misinformation about the disease have complicated efforts to contain the outbreak.
On Saturday, armed men reportedly attacked a hand-washing checkpoint in the nearby Beni territory, killing at least one person and injuring several others, according to a local civil society group cited by Reuters.
The current Ebola outbreak, declared on May 15, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus. Government data released on Monday showed that 8,067 people had been infected and 3,901 had died.
