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 At a swampy field elsewhere in the Liberian capital, the health
ministry ordered 100 graves to be dug for victims of the deadly
tropical virus, but only five shallow holes partly filled with water
had been prepared by Saturday evening.
Monrovia's overcrowded and understaffed Elwa Hospital has had to
turn away Ebola cases this week, a scenario exacerbated by the
withdrawal of some international staff following the infection of
two U.S. health workers here.
One of them has arrived for treatment in the United States and the
second is due to follow on an overnight flight on Monday.
Strong resistance like this from workers too afraid to handle
infected corpses or communities opposed to burying them nearby has
slowed down stretched West African governments as they seek to
control the worst Ebola outbreak in history.
The Ebola virus has killed 227 people so far in Liberia and at least
826 people in the region, according to the World Health
Organization.
Nema Red, a resident of Clara Town, said the two men who lay dead in
the street for days had shown symptoms of Ebola such as bleeding and
vomiting.
"They started seeking help from the community to take them to the
hospital, but community members ran for their lives ... they both
gave up and dropped dead on the ground in the streets of Clara
Town," she said, saying they lay there four days.
Information Minister Lewis Brown confirmed the bodies had been
collected but said they had only been there for a few hours. "They
have been removed," he said, adding their houses would be fumigated
and relatives placed under surveillance.
BOTCHED BURIALS
Ebola, which is fatal in more than half of cases in the current
outbreak, is transmitted by direct contact with the blood or fluids
of the infected, including the dead.
Monrovia's first burial site for 30 bodies, in the poor township of
Johnsonville, was abandoned by health workers after the land owner
refused to sell the land to bury Ebola victims.
A few of the corpses were left floating in body bags in pools of
water, which led to complaints from the residents.
A local man, Bill Marshall, said residents had not been consulted
before the cemetery was created. "Ebola, we don't know where it came
from and we don't know its effect," he said. "The grave will give us
Ebola, it will kill us."
At a second site, an angry crowd gathered, shouting at health
workers dressed in white protective suits who sought to appease them
by handing out Ebola information flyers.
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"You will have to kill us first," shouted one group.
Soldiers from the Liberian army with shields and bulletproof vests
arrived on the scene shortly afterwards. A source in the health
ministry said the bodies were finally buried overnight with the help
of around 40 additional workers.
STRICT MEASURES
The government says that high levels of mistrust and resistance from
local communities justifies a series of strict new measures designed
to control the outbreak.
Liberia plans to close schools and consider quarantining some
communities as part of an action plan outlined this week by
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
In a crisis meeting on Sunday attended by the president, officials
decided that the names of those in contact with suspected Ebola
cases would be shared with airport and security authorities to
restrict their movements.
Brown added that the government had decided to enforce mandatory
cremations to limit contact with the dead and to avoid contamination
of water sources.
"The Johnsonville burial did not go that well," said Brown. "From
now on, victims will be cremated."
(Additional reporting and writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Tom
Heneghan)
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