Ebola: Hit-and-run victim abandoned, dies in hospital

Authorities of the two Ebola isolation centres in Bayelsa State – the Federal Medical Centre and Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital -have dispelled insinuation that an abandoned corpse in Yenagoa, the state capital, was an Ebola victim.

They also dismissed as “dangerous rumour” the claims that four deaths had been recorded in the state from the deadly Ebola virus.

They clarified that the abandoned corpse in the state capital was caused by a hit-and-run driver and not caused by Ebola.

In its reaction, the NDUTH, through its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Francis Tonkumo, dismissed the claim that three persons had died from the disease, insisting that the isolated ward was empty and no case of Ebola had been recorded.

It was learnt that the circumstances that led to the death and abandonment of the corpse of the unnamed middle-aged woman might lead to an open inquiry over alleged negligence by the staff of the FMC, Yenagoa.

A senior official of the hospital, who pleaded for anonymity, alleged that the refusal of the doctors on duty to treat the hit-and-run victim over fear of Ebola led to the death of the victim at about 11am on Tuesday.

He said, “The victim was brought into the casualty ward by two good Samaritans. She was reported to have been hit by a hit-and-run driver along the Sanni Abacha Way in the Yenagoa metropolis.

“Instead of treating her due to the bruises and cuts in her body, the doctors refused, fearing it might be Ebola case. They refused even when the pictures of the scene of the accident was shown to them.

“The woman was brought into the casualty section by 2pm on Monday. She was abandoned and she died about 11am on Thursday. Even when the mortuary attendants were asked to take the body to the morgue by some doctors, they refused. They only took the body after the intervention of the Head of Administration. It is a shame.”

At the NDU, where three deaths were alleged to have been recorded, the PRO said the reported deaths were false and no Ebola case was recorded at the centre.

Tonkumo said, “We have been bombarded by calls from everyone asking if the rumour about deaths from Ebola is true. It is a lie and the isolation centre at the hospital is empty. We have received the needed protective gears.”