Liberian soldiers opened fire on residents of a slum in their country's capital city today after it was locked down in an effort to contain the spread of Ebola virus.
According to DailyMail, people ran screaming as soldiers from the country's Ebola Task Force brutally enforced a quarantine of Monrovia's West Point district ordered by the country's president last night. See photos below. Warning: Graphic content
The chaos in Monrovia erupted after protesters surrounded the home of the West Point's commissioner, Miatta Flowers, pictured below, blaming her for the decision to turn their neighbourhood into an open-air isolation ward. Soldiers carrying assault rifles lashed out at residents with telescopic truncheons and at least one man was shot as a security team moved in to evacuate Mrs. Flowers. A resident of the West Point district told the Associated Press by phone that security forces were firing into the air to disperse crowds angry over the quarantine measures.
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| Some relatives of Mrs Flowers are led away from the slum, which has been sealed off by soldiers and police |
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| West Point Commissioner Miata Flowers is escorted out of the slum by members of Liberia's Ebola Task Force |
Tensions came to a head over the weekend when a mob attacked and looted an Ebola screening centre, accusing officials of bringing sick people from all over Monrovia into their neighbourhood.
Dozens of people waiting to be screened fled in the chaos. Looters made off with items, including bloody sheets and mattresses that could further spread the virus.
In many areas of the capital, meanwhile, dead bodies have been in the streets for hours, sometimes days, even though residents asked that the corpses be picked up by health ministry workers wearing protective gear.
Riot police and soldiers have now sealed off West Point, a peninsula where the Mesurado River meets the Atlantic Ocean, with makeshift barricades built from piles of wood and barbed wire.
Few roads go into the area, and a major road runs along the base of the isthmus, serving as a barrier between the neighbourhood and the rest of Monrovia.
Ferries to the area have been halted, and a coast guard boat was patrolling the waters around the peninsula. At least 50,000 people live on the half-mile-long point, which is one of the poorest and most densely populated neighbourhoods of the capital. Sanitation is poor even in the best of times, and defecation in the streets and beaches is a major problem. Mistrust of authorities is rampant and many people live without electricity or access to clean water.
Liberia's strict new measures came as medical authorities there said three infected doctors treated with an experimental drug were showing signs of recovery, although it was not certain if it was thanks to the drug. Announcing the quarantine, as well as a wider curfew, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said last night:
'We have been unable to control the spread due to continued denials, cultural burying practices, disregard for the advice of health workers and disrespect for the warnings by the government.'As a result and due to the large population concentration the disease has spread widely in Monrovia and environs. May God bless us all and save the state,' she later added.
The latest outbreak of Ebola in West Africa - the worst ever - has already killed more than 1,200 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, and experts warn it is not yet under control.
Congo does not share a border with any of the countries already known to be affected by the epidemic, so reports of a potential outbreak there are a serious cause for concern.
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| God help us: Members of the Church of Aladura pray on the beach in Monrovia, Liberia. They said they were praying for God to rescue Liberia from its current crisis |
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