Shocking Photos Of A Slum On Lockdown Amid Ebola Fears

Shocking Photos Of A Slum On Lockdown Amid Ebola Fears

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has claimed more than 1,300 lives and Liberia has the highest -- and fastest rising -- death toll, according to the World Health Organization. After long years of war and government corruption, many in the country do not trust the authorities and have resisted efforts to isolate people who have been infected.

On Wednesday, Liberian security forces sealed off the West Point slum in the capital city of Monrovia in an effort to contain the virus, causing hundreds of angry residents to clash with riot police and troops enforcing the quarantine. They told Reuters that they had no advance warning of the lockdown so were unable to get out to buy food. According to National Geographic there are fears that more than a million people living in Ebola quarantine zones in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone may be cut off from food and supplies.

In Liberia's West Point, security forces pushed back stone-throwing crowds with live rounds and tear gas, injuring four people, Reuters reported. Images from the slum showed troops beating back residents as they challenged the lockdown.

liberiaA Liberian Army soldier, part of the Ebola Task Force, beats a local resident while enforcing a quarantine on the West Point slum in Liberia's capital city of Monrovia on Aug. 20, 2014.

liberiaA Liberian Army soldier, part of the Ebola Task Force, beats a local resident while enforcing a quarantine on the West Point slum on Aug. 20, 2014.

west point liberiaA Liberian Army soldier, part of the Ebola Task Force, beats a local resident while enforcing a quarantine on the West Point slum on Aug. 20, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia.

liberiaLiberian riot policemen enforce a quarantine on the West Point slum on August 20, 2014.

west point liberiaMembers of Liberia's Ebola Task Force enforce a quarantine on the West Point slum on Aug. 20, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia.

west point liberiaMembers of Liberia's Ebola Task Force enforce a quarantine on the West Point slum on Aug. 20, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia.

west point liberiaLocal residents protest as Liberia's Ebola Task Force enforces a quarantine on the West Point slum on Aug. 20, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia.

west point liberiaLiberian security forces, part of the country's Ebola Task Force, enforce a quarantine on the West Point slum on Aug. 20, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia.

west point liberiaFamily members of West Point district commissioner Miata Flowers flee the slum while being escorted by the Ebola Task Force on Aug. 20, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia.

west point liberiaAn Ebola Task Force officer walks into the West Point slum on Aug. 20, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. (John Moore/Getty Images)

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