MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Government officials have been handing out bags of rice and pouches of drinking water to residents of an impoverished slum in Liberia’s capital where tens of thousands of people have been barricaded in an effort to stop the spread of Ebola.
International aid workers warn that more help is needed as the country battles not only the virulent disease but also hunger. Travel restrictions have blocked food from getting to parts of the seaside capital.
The atmosphere remains tense in the township of West Point, where hundreds of residents lined up to receive government provisions a day after authorities put up barbed wire barricades and enforced a blockade of the area. The quarantine has kept market traders from entering or leaving and prices for food and water have been skyrocketing.
Liberia is being hit especially hard by Ebola. The virus has killed 1,350 people in West Africa, and more than a third of those deaths have been in Liberia.
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APPHOTO ALIB101: West Point, one of the areas were the Ebola virus has claimed lives in Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. Calm returned Thursday to a slum in the Liberian capital that was sealed off in the government’s attempt to halt the spread of Ebola, a day after clashes erupted between residents and security forces, but now the tens of thousands of residents are worried about getting food. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh) (21 Aug 2014)
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APPHOTO ALIB102: West Point residents try to buy water, rear, in one of the areas were the Ebola virus has claimed lives in Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. Calm returned Thursday to a slum in the Liberian capital that was sealed off in the government’s attempt to halt the spread of Ebola, a day after clashes erupted between residents and security forces, but now the tens of thousands of residents are worried about getting food. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh) (20 Aug 2014)
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APPHOTO ALIB103: Woman from West Point, carry water on their heads as they sell water to fellow residents, in one of the areas where the Ebola virus has claimed lives in Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. Calm returned Thursday to a slum in the Liberian capital that was sealed off in the government’s attempt to halt the spread of Ebola, a day after clashes erupted between residents and security forces, but now the tens of thousands of residents worried about getting food. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh) (20 Aug 2014)
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APPHOTO ALIB119: Liberia security forces dressed in riot gear, left, control a crowd of people in the West Point area, as the government clamps down on the movement of people to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. Security forces deployed Wednesday to enforce a quarantine around a slum in the Liberian capital, stepping up the government’s fight to stop the spread of Ebola and unnerving residents. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh) (20 Aug 2014)
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