The violence in the West Point slum occurred late
Saturday and was led by residents angry that patients were brought to the
holding center from other parts of Monrovia
Local witnesses said: "They broke down the doors and
looted the place. The patients all fled," said Rebecca Wesseh, who
witnessed the attack and whose report was confirmed by residents and the head
of Health Workers Association of Liberian, George Williams.
Up to 30 patients were staying at the center and many of
them fled at the time of the raid, said Nyenswah. Once they are located they
will be transferred to the Ebola center at Monrovia
The attack comes just one day after a report of a crowd
of several hundred local residents, chanting, 'No Ebola in West Point,' drove
away a burial team and their police escort that had come to collect the bodies
of suspected Ebola victims in the slum in the capital, Reuters reports.
West Point residents went on a "looting spree,"
stealing items from the clinic that were likely infected, said a senior police
official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the
press. The residents took medical equipment and mattresses and sheets that had
bloodstains, he said. Ebola is spread through bodily fluids including blood,
vomit, feces and sweat.
"All between the houses you could see people fleeing
with items looted from the patients," the official said, adding that he
now feared "the whole of West Point will
be infected."
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