MADRID: Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands will send planes to evacuate their citizens aboard the Tenerife-bound cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, Spain’s interior minister said in Madrid on Saturday (May 9).
The European Union is sending two further planes for remaining European citizens, Fernando Grande-Marlaska added. The US and UK have confirmed planes and contingency plans were being arranged for non-EU citizens whose countries were unable to send air transport, he said.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will meet Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid on Saturday afternoon and then travel to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, alongside Spain’s interior and health ministers to coordinate the arrival of the ship. It is expected to anchor near the island between 3am GMT (11am, Singapore time) and 5am GMT (1pm, Singapore time).
Local authorities have warned the evacuation must take place between Sunday midday and Monday afternoon before conditions at sea are expected to take a turn for the worse until the end of May due to stormy weather.
The luxury cruise ship MV Hondius left for Spain on Wednesday from the coast of Cape Verde after the WHO and European Union asked the country to manage the evacuation of passengers onboard after the hantavirus outbreak was detected.
The World Health Organization said on Friday that eight people had fallen ill, including three who died, a Dutch couple and a German national.