Ebola Quarantine Facility Looted By Mobs In Liberia

A quarantine clinic for Ebola was attacked in Monrovia, Liberia over the weekend, reportedly by weapon-wielding residents who want to eradicate the diseased from their community.

Liberian National Police spokesman Sam Collins confirmed Monday that assailants wielding weapons ambushed a health care facility in the country's capital of Monrovia, reportedly stealing mattresses and equipment from the quarantine clinic. Some patients infected with Ebola fled the clinic, while others stayed.

According to the Associated Press, an estimated 37 patients fled during the raid, with 20 of them returning. Seventeen of the patients are still unaccounted for, the AP confirmed.

Collins told CNN that the assailants who attacked the clinic were not attempting to free Ebola patients, but rather the get rid of the quarantine center altogether in an attempt to force those infected with the virus from their community.

"It was an attack from people afraid of Ebola," Collins told CNN in an interview on Monday. "Everybody is afraid."

Government Information Minister Lewis Brown added to the Associated Press that: "It's important to understand here that most of the people that went into this holding facility came there voluntarily."

"They were forcibly removed by vandals and looters, not because they wanted to leave, so we are sure that they will return."

Since its outbreak began in March, Ebola virus has infected over 2,000 people, killing over 1,100 in several West African countries, including Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. Several of the countries have declared a state of emergency to deal with the crisis, which is currently showing no signs of slowing. The World Health Organization is set to release a new report on the current death toll in coming days.