In Liberia village, shunned Ebola victims left to die

The only sounds in the
abandoned Liberian village were the
cries of a little girl, shut up with her
mother's body inside the family home,
starving and thirsty as she waited for
death.
Eventually even the girl - 12-year-old
Fatu Sherrif - fell silent as she too
succumbed to the deadly Ebola virus
that is ravaging her country and other
parts of west Africa.
When AFP visited Fatu's village of
Ballajah on Sunday, she had been
locked away with her mother's body for
a week after most residents fled to the
forest to escape an outbreak of the
virus.
Belongings lay abandoned around the
village, the doors of some homes left
open by those rushing to leave.
A few villagers remained, including
Momoh Wile, a septuagenarian local
chief, who told AFP Fatu's harrowing
story.