Angry citizens have destroyed a newly erected COVID-19 treatment center in Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan, saying it will contaminate their neighborhood.

Residents burned down and ransacked tents and structures of a temporary treatment center set up in the suburb of Yopougon on Sunday evening and Monday morning, according to witnesses and a dpa reporter on the scene.

Police tried to break up the mob with tear gas, but the angry protesters could not be deterred.

Protesters chanted, "We don't want," saying they did not want coronavirus patients in their neighborhood out of fear the virus will spread.

Ivory Coast has confirmed 261 cases of COVID-19 infection and reported three deaths.