Geneva [Switzerland], May 24: Three volunteer aid workers from the Red Cross were among the first people to die in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The three were believed to have been infected on March 27 while handling bodies, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in Geneva on Saturday.
The volunteers had been responding to another humanitarian emergency before it was known that Ebola was spreading in the area.
"They are among the first known victims of the outbreak," the IFRC said in a statement. "These volunteers lost their lives while serving their communities with courage and humanity." According to the federation, the three died on May 5, May 15 and May 16.
The first Ebola cases were only confirmed in laboratory tests on May 15.
Source: Qatar Tribune