A spokesman for the government in Guinea said on Thursday that eight bodies were found two days after a group of health workers and journalists went missing in the country.

The journalists and officials came under attack near the southern city of Nzerekore, close to the Liberian border. One journalist was able to escape and later told reporters that she could hear villagers looking for her.

The Associated Press said that the group "was doing disinfection and education on prevention methods" when it went missing.

Doctors and researchers trying to contain the Ebola outbreak, which is deadlier than all previous outbreaks combined, have run up against a population deeply suspicious of medical personnel. Last month, riots broke out in the same Guinean city over rumors that health care workers were infecting people with the virus.