Guinea bandits steal taxi carrying ebola-infected blood samples

Roadside bandits in Guinea stole a cooler containing blood samples that are believed to have ebola, officials said, warning of the risks and vowing tighter security measures for transport of potentially contagious cargo.

The vehicle was transporting test tubes containing blood when the roadside robbery took place on the route from Kankan prefecture in central Guinea to a test site in Gueckedou, in the south, national health officials said.

The bandits held up the minibus taxi carrying the samples from a suspected ebola patient on Wednesday, said Guinea Red Cross press officer Faya Etienne Tolno. Why they took the blood samples is unknown.