ANGRY young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients at the heart of the latest outbreak of the disease in eastern Congo on Sunday evening, forcing medics to scramble to evacuate the patients as gunfire rang out in the area.

It was not immediately known if anyone was hurt in the attack on the Mongbwalu General Hospital, but hospital medical director Dr Richard Lokudu said the attackers demanded that two bodies of their kin be handed over to them.

“Mongbwalu General Hospital is on general alert,” Dr Lokudu said. He did not have any further details of the unfolding turmoil.

The attack, the third in a week on healthcare facilities where medical workers struggle with lack of resources to treat suspected Ebola cases, underlined the challenges of the outbreak, which the World Health Organisation has declared a public health emergency of international concern.

Bodies of those who died of Ebola can be highly contagious and can lead to its further spread.

Earlier on Sunday the Congolese Ministry of Communication said the total number of Ebola deaths stood at 119 with another 904 suspected cases, mostly in north-eastern Ituri Province.

Today neighbouring Uganda reported a total number of confirmed cases of seven and the World ‌Health Organisation reported that there had been 220 suspected deaths in the current outbreak.