Sierra Leone police shoot at protesters demonstrating against open market closure
At least three people have been admitted in hospitals in Kambia district in northern Sierra Leone with gunshot wounds after police apparently opened fire in clashes with civilians protesting against the closure of open market trading.
Two of those admitted are said to be in serious conditions, and require referral to the capital, Freetown.
Local police commander Supt Francis Hazeley says his men only fired teargas after youth twice attacked and damaged his police station.
This came after he tried to stop open market trading because of the 43 missing Ebola contacts that the authorities are searching for.
Hazeley said seven of the initial 50 contacts had been found and quarantined, and they had agreed with the community that the open market be suspended until further notice.
The Ebola outbreak in the West African region killed almost 4,000 people in Sierra Leone alone.
A second case of the epidemic was reported last Tuesday, a huge setback to the country after the World Health Organization declared the latest West African outbreak over.
