South Korea government officials left for Ebola-hit Sierra Leone on Tuesday in a bid to support a second batch of Seoul medical workers who will treat Ebola patients in the West African country, officials said.

The departure came after a group of five doctors and four nurses left for Britain on Saturday for safety training before flying to Sierra Leone on Jan. 19 for a four-week mission.

To support the medical team, officials from the foreign ministry and the state grant aid agency departed to Sierra Leone earlier in the day, the government said.

They will work at the office of the U.N. Development Program to support the operations of Korean medical workers and coordinate works with the Sierra Leone government.

Seoul plans to send a total of 30 medical staff members to Sierra Leone. The first batch of 10 health care workers has worked there since late December while the final batch of 11 workers will be sent to the West African country next month.

South Korea has joined global efforts to fight Ebola by sending medical workers and offering a combined $12.6 million in assistance. The virus is estimated to have killed more than 8,000 people since December 2013, according to the World Health Organization. (Yonhap)