Sierra Leone's top doctor dies from Ebola virus

A doctor who was on the front lines fighting the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone has died from complications of the disease, medical charity Doctors Without Borders said yesterday.

Sheik Umar Khan was infected earlier this month and died on Tuesday at a ward run by Doctors Without Borders in the far north of the country.

Miatta Kargbo, Sierra Leone's health minister, called Khan a "national hero" and praised his "tremendous sacrifice" in working to save the lives of others.

Khan's death follows those of dozens of local health workers and the infection of two American medics in neighboring Liberia, highlighting the dangers faced by staff trying to halt the disease's spread across West Africa.

Ebola is believed to have killed 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since the outbreak began in February, according to the World Health Organisation.