Red Cross Volunteers in DRC Bury a Six-Month-Old Girl who Died of Ebola

On Friday, a six-month-old girl was buried in Bunia, becoming the latest casualty of the DRC’s Ebola outbreak. Her little coffin served as a poignant reminder of the devastation of the epidemic, which is still spreading throughout Ituri province.

Mourners gathered in Bunia on Friday to bury a six-month-old girl who died of Ebola earlier this week, becoming the third child to die of the disease at an orphanage in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

They stood at a distance as Red Cross health workers dropped the small coffin into the grave at Bunia’s Bigo Cemetery, while a Catholic priest prayed. According to the priest, the infant had been living at the Saint Nicolas orphanage managed by the Sisters of Mary, and it was believed she was the third child to die from Ebola since the outbreak began.

The impersonal character of safe burial techniques, as well as the severity of the epidemic, were clear when only healthcare staff wearing protective gear were permitted to handle the coffin and the burial. The miniature coffin, placed in an already prepared cemetery, served as a reminder of the severity of the pandemic, which is still spreading in Ituri.

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