AP’s Goma team delivers haunting all-formats coverage of Ebola outbreak in one of the world’s most remote and vulnerable places

On May 15, health authorities confirmed an Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, one of the country’s most dangerous and isolated areas. The death toll was already in the dozens after weeks of undetected spread, as authorities had initially tested for the more common Ebola virus rather than the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for the outbreak.

AP freelance video journalist Justin Kabumba and photographer Moses Sawasawa traveled from Goma to Bunia to cover the crisis, passing through three countries to avoid crossing an active front line between rebel-held and government-held areas, and taking a Ugandan military-secured route before boarding a flight to Bunia.

They arrived less than an hour before a cargo plane carrying aid arrived at Bunia’s airport and immediately began reporting.

The next day, while planning to document the creation of a treatment center, they encountered an active burial response operation. Their coverage gave the world its first images of healthcare workers handling bodies in hazmat suits and disinfecting coffins as relatives grieved behind caution tape, days before competitors published similar scenes.

As tensions grew in the days to come, residents angry over burial restrictions set fire to an Ebola treatment center holding the body of a local victim. Kabumba interviewed the victim’s brother, who described the pain of waiting to give his sibling a dignified burial only to see the body burned in the attack.

Kabumba and Sawasawa have continued reporting despite increasing hostility toward healthcare workers and journalists, and new government restrictions requiring special Ebola reporting permits. Kabumba has produced two French-language dispatches from Bunia, the first non-English-language dispatches published by the AP.

With flights suspended and roads unsafe because of armed groups, the two remain in Bunia, delivering unmatched coverage of one of the world’s largest Ebola outbreaks under significant personal risk, while continuing to heed guidance on how to protect themselves.

Judges were impressed with the powerful, emotional storytelling from Kabumba and Sawasawa under difficult and challenging circumstances.

For their incredible coverage, and the great risks they have undertaken to deliver exclusive and comprehensive all-formats coverage of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, Justin Kabumba and Moses Sawasawa win this week’s Best of AP — First Winner.