NewsWorld newsEbola virusAn angry crowd set fire to a field hospital set up to treat Ebola patients at the centre of the outbreak after nurses refused to let them see the body of a man who died of the disease20:28, 21 May 2026Updated 20:38, 21 May 2026An emergency Ebola treatment centre responding to a major outbreak has been set on fire by an angry mob.‌The incident unfolded in a town in the eastern Congo today after the crowd were stopped from retrieving the body of a local man, local police said.‌It comes as the number of people who have died in the Central Africa Ebola outbreak rose to 139, with more than 600 suspected cases.‌Experts from the World Health Organisation warned yesterday that it could take as long as nine months before a vaccine against Bundibugyo, the specific form of Ebola behind the spate of infections, is ready.READ MORE: Trump's team claim to have built Ebola treatment centres in Uganda - but nobody there is aware of themREAD MORE: 'I'm a doctor and this is why the African Ebola outbreak is so worrying'The centre in Rwampara was burnt by local youths who were stopped from retrieving the body of a friend said to have died of Ebola, one eyewitness said.‌They told the Associated Press: "The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful. The young people ended up setting fire to the centre. That's the situation."An AP journalist saw people break into the centre and set fire to objects inside and also to what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim that was being stored there. Aid workers fled the treatment centre in vehicles.Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department in Ituri Province, said there had been confusion in the crowd about the procedures burying suspected Ebola victims. He told reporters:"His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear. All bodies must be buried according to the regulations."‌Hama Amadou, the field Coordinator for the humanitarian organisation ALIMA, which was working at the site, said later that calm had been restored and the aid teams were continuing their work at the centre.It comes as Congolese authorities and multiple international aid agencies desperately attempt to contain the outbreak, which has been designated as a "global health emergency" by the WHO.Article continues belowThe Democratic Republic of Congo national football team has cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in the capital, Kinshasa, because of the outbreak. They are due to play friendly matches against Denmark on June 3, and Chile on June 9.Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌Ebola virus