Guinea officials said that they have found eight bodies after a team of health workers went missing during a push to raise awareness of the outbreak of Ebola which started in the country nine months ago.

Six members of the team – three journalists and the director and two senior doctors of the regional hospital – were set upon by angry residents in the remote village of Womey, where many remain in denial about the disease, or suspicious of foreign health workers. The six have been missing since Tuesday. Officials said all six were held captive, although attempts to reach them stalled after angry residents destroyed bridges leading to the village.

"The meeting started off well; the traditional chiefs welcomed the delegation with 10 kola nuts as a traditional greeting," said a local resident who was present at the meeting earlier this week and gave only his first name, Yves. "It was afterwards that some youths came out and started stoning them. They dragged some of them away, and damaged their vehicles."

A government spokesman, Damantang Albert Camara told Reuters: "The eight bodies were found in the village latrine. Three of them had their throats slit."

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/18/ebola-health-workers-missing-guinea

This story struck me when thinking of the preponderance and popularity of conspiracy theories in Nigeria and the adverse effects it has in mobilising people to solve grave national problems. The people in Guinea have obviously accepted a conspiracy theory, that health workers are out to harm them, and decided that this calls for decisive action in the form of slitting the throats of the health workers.

Chai

very sad