Briefly

DR CONGO

14th Ebola outbreak declared, WHO says

The Democratic Republic of the Congo declared the 14th Ebola virus outbreak after one confirmed case was reported in Mbandaka city in northwestern Equateur Province, confirmed the World Health Organization in a statement on Saturday. One positive Ebola case has been reported in Wangata Health Zone of Equateur. The patient, a 31-year-old man, began experiencing symptoms on April 5 and sought treatment at a local health facility after more than a week of care at home. DRC is experiencing its 14th Ebola outbreak since 1976. The current outbreak is the sixth since 2018, the most frequent occurrence in the country's Ebola history.

NIGERIA

Explosion at illegal oil refinery kills over 100

More than 100 people were killed overnight in an explosion at an illegal oil refining depot on the border of Nigeria's Rivers and Imo states, said a local government official and an environmental group on Saturday. The bunkering site was in Imo's Ohaji-Egbema local government area in the Abaezi forest that straddles the border of the two states. Illegal crude refining is an attractive local business. Crude oil is tapped from a web of pipelines owned by major oil companies and refined into products in makeshift tanks. The hazardous process has led to many fatal accidents and has polluted a region already blighted by oil spills in farmland, creeks and lagoons. The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre said several vehicles that were in a queue to buy illegal fuel were burnt in the explosion.

Agencies via Xinhua