The first flight carrying passengers from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship to Madrid – National
The first flight carrying passengers from the ship on the hantavirus cruise left the Canary Islands on Sunday for Madrid, where they will be taken to a military hospital.
The Spanish were the first to leave the MV Hondius, which was anchored near Tenerife, the largest of the Spanish islands off the coast of West Africa. The ship arrived a few hours earlier.
None of the more than 140 people on Hondius have shown symptoms of the virus, said Spain’s health minister, the World Health Organization and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions.
The Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wants to reassure the public, repeating on Sunday that the risk to the general public from the outbreak of the disease remains low.
However, those disembarking and workers working at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife wore protective gear during the evacuation process, including face masks, hazmat suits and respirators.
Spain’s Health Minister Mónica García said the operation was proceeding normally.
Passengers and some crew from more than 20 nations on board will be evacuated throughout Sunday through Monday.
After arriving in Madrid, those removed from the first flight will remain in isolation, Spanish health authorities said. Only 14 Spaniards on the ship will stay in isolation in the country.
Authorities said disembarking passengers and crew will be checked for signs, have no contact with locals and will only be disembarked when departing flights are ready to fly them to their destination. Tedros and Spain’s health and interior ministers are monitoring the operation in Tenerife.
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Pope Leo XIV on Sunday thanked the Canary Islands for allowing the Hondius to arrive.
Hantavirus is usually spread when people inhale contaminated rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus found in the cruise ship outbreak can spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually appear between one and eight weeks after exposure.
Three people have died since the disease broke out, and five passengers who left the ship were infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness.
Passengers and disembarking staff leave their luggage behind, and are allowed to take a small bag with essentials, mobile phone, charger and documents.
The rest of the crew, along with the body of the passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will proceed to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where it will be disinfected, Spanish authorities said.
The expected travel time to Rotterdam is about five days, the travel agency said.
Exit and separation plans
The US, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands will send planes to evacuate their citizens. The Americans on board will be quarantined at a medical facility in Nebraska.
Twenty-nine people will be on board the chartered Dutch plane, including Dutch nationals and foreigners, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The five French passengers will be repatriated on Sunday, and will be hospitalized for 72 hours for treatment, after which they will be in home isolation for 45 days, the French Foreign Ministry said.
Passengers and crew in the UK will be hospitalized for observation once they are repatriated, British authorities said.
Australia is sending a plane, expected to arrive on Monday, to evacuate its own people and those from nearby countries such as New Zealand, García said. Its flight will be the last from Tenerife, he said.
Norway has sent an air ambulance to Tenerife with personnel trained to transport patients with critical illnesses, the Directorate for Civil Protection told public broadcaster NRK.
The air ambulance belongs to the European Union, but is operated by Norway.
Countries monitor suspected cases
British Army scientists have parachuted into the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where one of the 221 residents has a suspected case of hantavirus.
The patient was a passenger on the MV Hondius and disembarked last month.
The UK Ministry of Defense says a crew of six passengers and two medics jumped on Saturday from a Royal Air Force transport plane, which also brought down oxygen and medical equipment.
Tristan da Cunha is the most remote British inhabited overseas territory, approximately 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from the nearest inhabited island, St. Helena. The volcanic island group has no airport and is usually only accessible by boat on a six-day trip from Cape Town, South Africa.
Meanwhile, a Spanish woman in the southeastern province of Alicante who is suspected of having the virus has tested negative for hantavirus, Spanish health authorities said on Saturday.
This woman was a passenger on the same flight as the Dutch woman who died in Johannesburg after sailing.
–Suman Naishadham reported from Madrid. Angela Charlton in Paris, Jill Lawless in London, and Kirsten Griesshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
