People set fire to an Ebola treatment centre in a town at the heart of the outbreak in eastern Congo yesterday after being stopped from retrieving the body of a local man, a witness and a senior police officer said, as fear and anger grow over a health crisis that doctors are struggling to contain.

The arson attack in Rwampara reflects the challenges for health workers trying to curb a rare Ebola virus using stringent measures that may clash with local customs, such as burial rites. The disease has been spreading for weeks in a region lacking adequate health facilities and where many people are on the move to escape armed conflicts.

The bodies of those who die from Ebola can be highly contagious and lead to further spread when people prepare bodies for burial and gather for funerals. The dangerous work of burying suspected victims is being managed wherever possible by authorities, which can be met with protests from victims’ families and friends.