Spain says hantavirus ship evacuees need new plane to leave Canaries
SPAIN (AFP)—Two evacuees from a ship suffering a deadly hantavirus outbreak and whose flight to Amsterdam unexpectedly landed in the Canary Islands on Wednesday will need a new plane to leave the archipelago after a technical fault, Spain’s health ministry said.
An AFP journalist saw one of two planes that had left Cape Verde with three people from the ship land at the airport of Gran Canaria, but it was unclear which evacuees were onboard.
At least one of the two planes was due to go to Amsterdam, but no arrival in the Canary Islands had been confirmed by authorities.
Spanish health ministry sources said the plane landed in Gran Canaria to refuel after Morocco denied a request to land.
“When it carried out this stop, the plane’s doctor reported a fault in the electrical support system” of a patient, the sources added.
“Therefore, the patient remains on the plane with the airport’s electrical supply awaiting the arrival of a new plane to continue their journey,” they said, without offering a timeframe.
“The patient does not represent a risk to public health and will remain on the ground until the situation is resolved,” the health ministry sources said.
Sources from the health department of the Atlantic archipelago’s regional government had however said “no person will disembark or board” after “a patient’s isolation bubble was broken”.
According to the Flightradar24 monitor, the plane was due to carry out another stopover in the southern Spanish city of Malaga before reaching Amsterdam.
Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia said the stricken MV Hondius cruise ship would arrive at the island of Tenerife by Saturday for medical examinations and repatriations of the passengers.
The Canaries regional government has opposed receiving the Dutch-flagged ship, requesting that any medical treatment and repatriations take place from Cape Verde.
The vessel has been at the centre of an international health scare since last weekend, when the UN’s health agency was informed that three passengers had died and the suspected cause was hantavirus.
The rare disease is usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva.
