Boystown: Hundreds flee explosions and ground shaking as decades old crematorium begins processing Ebola victims' bodies

[Emily]

http://www.liberianobserver.com/news/crematorium-paralyzes-boystown

Crematorium Paralyzes Boystown
Thu, 10/23/2014 - 01:50 admin
--Residents demand its relocation, EPA team investigates
By:
Omari Jackson

The use of the old Indian crematorium by the Liberian government for the cremation of Ebola-infested human bodies, has compelled hundreds of residents to abandon homes and farms in the area, according to investigations conducted by the Daily Observer.

...

A huge plot of land next to the crematorium, once used for rice cultivation, has been abandoned because of increased activity at the crematorium, according to Reeves.

“Whenever the human bodies are being burnt in the morning and in the afternoon, there are huge explosions and everyone here can feel the ground itself shaking,” Reeves said.

...

Reeves confirmed that the crematorium was built in the 1970s when there was no Liberian community near the area....

We live in a crowded world - about 5,000 people now live close enough to the crematorium to be affected.

 

[Vibrant62]

Rage Against the Ebola Crematorium

Rage Against the Ebola Crematorium

Comment: it would seem creamtion in Liberia is very different to what we know. Read in full http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/11/rage-against-the-ebola-crematorium.html

A crematorium for Ebola victims in Liberia is not only raising concerns about its procedures and record keeping, but it?s rattling the very core traditions of the community.

At 9 p.m. each night, it begins. Thunderous sounds announce its arrival, piercing the silence that accompanies sundown in the swampland near Boystown, Liberia. The concrete building from which the sounds emanate shakes from the impact, rattling the colorful houses on the dirt roads nearby. Hot orange flames leap into the sky bringing with them the sickening, inescapable stench of death.

The cremation of Ebola?s newest victims has begun.

It?s a disturbing display of a practice the town has come to know well, one that has ruined its crops, polluted its waters, and scorched its trees?uprooting the core members of its community and spreading panic to neighboring villages. After failed attempts to get the government to intervene, the community will host a sit-in Tuesday to block the road on which the bodies have been arriving since September. For one night, they hope to achieve peace.

snip

While the dead-body management teams may know the identities of the deceased upon arrival, the EPA cannot find any proof that the crematorium is keeping even a single record. ?There is no actual system in place to account for everything, that is the real concern,? says Cammue. ?Where are the bodies coming from??

snip

Even the community members in Boystown have noticed. ?The most frustrating part of this crematorium here is the carelessness of the Ebola team,? says Reeves. ?The gloves, plastic bags?even the nose protectors they use?are being dropped all over the place. Children could see these things like toys and take them to play with, which is very risky for us?they could get Ebola.?

Beyond the concerns about the current procedures?and the impact that this may have on the accuracy of the reported deaths of Ebola?is the damage it is doing to Liberians? waning trust in their health-care system as a whole. A cremation leaves the family of the deceased unable to say goodbye to their loved ones and, more importantly, unable to properly guide them into the afterlife. In an attempt to protect Liberia from Ebola, the government?s plan to cremate the bodies of Ebola victims may be making things worse.