Police in the Liberian capital have fired live
rounds and tear gas to disperse a stone-
throwing crowd trying to break an Ebola
quarantine imposed on their neighbourhood, as
the death toll from the epidemic in West Africa
hit 1,350,
Aljazeera reports.
In the sprawling oceanfront West Point
neighbourhood of Monrovia, at least four people
were injured in clashes with security forces,
witnesses said. It was unclear whether anyone
was wounded by the gunfire, though a Reuters
news agency photographer saw a young boy
with his leg largely severed just above the ankle
on Wednesday.
Liberian authorities introduced a nationwide
curfew on Tuesday and put the West Point
neighbourhood under quarantine to curb the
spread of the disease.
“
The soldiers are using live rounds,” said army
spokesman Dessaline Allison, adding: “The
soldiers applied the rules of engagement. They
did not fire on peaceful citizens. There will be
medical reports if (an injury) was from bullet
wounds.”
The World Health Organization said that the
countries hit by the worst ever outbreak of the
deadly virus were beginning to suffer shortages
of fuel, food and basic supplies after shipping
companies and airlines suspended services to
the region.
The epidemic of the hemorrhagic fever, which
can kill up to 90 percent of those it infects, is
ravaging the three small West African states of
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. It also has a
toehold in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy
and most populous country.
Liberia – where the death toll is rising fastest
– said its ministry of health warehouse had run
out of rubber boots and bottles of hand
sanitiser, essential for preventing the spread of
the disease.
Still struggling to recover from a devastating
1989-2003 civil war, Liberia recorded 95 deaths
in the two days to August 18th, the World
Health Organization said. Since it was
discovered in remote southeastern Guinea in
March, the overall death toll from the outbreak
has reached 1,350 from a total of 2,473 cases.
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