Womey Massacre

The Womey Massacre was the murder of eight Guinean government and health personnel at Womey in mid-September 2014,[1] who had come to warn the village about dangers of the Ebola virus disease.[1][2] By 24 September 2014, Ebola disease was reported to have killed over 600 people in Guinea during previous months.[3]

Summary

On 18 September, it was reported that the bodies of a team of Guinean health and government officials, accompanied by journalists, who had been distributing Ebola information and doing disinfection work, were found in a latrine in the town of Womey, near Nzérékoré.[4] The workers had been murdered by residents of the village after they initially went missing after a riot against the presence of the health education team. Government officials said "the bodies showed signs of being attacked with machetes and clubs" and "three of them had their throats slit."[5]

Incident

When the group first arrived at the village, people threw stones at them, causing the group to split up with nine trying to hide near the town of Womey, and others taking refuge near Nzérékoré.[1] Of those nine one successfully hid and survived.[1] The other eight members of the group were killed.[1] The survivor, a journalist, said that they heard the villagers searching around for them.[6] The team consisted of health workers, government officials, one priest, and journalists.[6][7]

The bodies were found in a latrine with evidence of being struck with clubs and machetes, and three were found with their throats slit.[6][7] The bodies were found in the septic tank of the local school.[8] As the evidence was found, six were arrested in connection with the attack(s).[6] By 22 September 2014 twenty people were arrested,[9] and by 24 September 2014 Guinea police had arrested 27 suspects in connection with the attack.[3]

The team included at least two doctors, including the Health Director of the prefecture and the Deputy Director of the hospital in the area.[10][11] The pastor worked at a local Christian church and was one of the founders of Hope Clinic, which provides medical care and surgeries.[12] Some of the journalists worked for Liberté Zaly Fm.[11] It is a local radio station based in Nzérékoré (N'Zérékoré).[13] Nzérékoré is the second largest city in Guinea with a population greater than 300 thousand in 2008, and is the capital of Nzérékoré Prefecture.

Related incidents

Later in September 2014 a Red Cross Team in Guinea was attacked while trying to collect corpses.[14] Another medical charity had already pulled out of Guinea after multiple stoning attacks on their teams.[1] In August 2014 there were riots in Nzérékoré when a team tried to disinfect a market.[6] Nzérékoré is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Womey.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "8 members of Ebola aid team massacred in Guinea". Q13 FOX News. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Eight bodies found after attack on Guinea Ebola education team". Reuters. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Guinea arrests 27 over Ebola health team murders". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Arrests Made in Killings of Guinea Ebola Education Team". Wall Street Journal. September 19, 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Phillip, Abby (18 September 2014). "Eight dead in attack on Ebola team in Guinea. 'Killed in cold blood.'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ebola outbreak: Guinea health team killed". BBC News. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Guinea Villagers Massacre Eight Ebola Missionaries and Dump Bodies in". Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Officials say Eight members of a team trying to raise awareness about Ebola have been killed by villagers using machetes and clubs in Guinea.". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Guinea arrests 20 over killings of Ebola team". World Bulletin. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Ebola in Guinea: Some of the victims of the Wome massacre". Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  11. 1 2 Alpha oumar. "La liste partielle des victimes de la tuerie de Womey (N’zérékoré)". aminata.com. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Ebola Aid Team Killed in Attack in Guinea". Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  13. ↑ "Guinea: Minister Shuts-Down Zaly Liberté Fm for Reporting On Conflict". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "Ebola outbreak: Red Cross workers attacked while burying dead bodies in Guinea". The Independent. Retrieved 24 November 2014.

External links

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