Evacuees from the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship arrived safely in the Netherlands as authorities enforce strict quarantine measures
EINDHOVEN: A plane carrying evacuees from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius landed in the Netherlands on Sunday, passengers disembarking in seemingly good health and spirits, an AFP reporter saw.
The flight from Tenerife, where the ship is moored, was carrying 26 passengers and crew, including eight of Dutch nationality, according to the Dutch foreign ministry.
Wearing medical masks and carrying backpacks or large white plastic bags, the passengers left the black Airbus plane in small groups after a flight lasting just over three and a half hours.
Escorted by airport staff, they walked into the military terminal, several even flashing a wave at the cameras. Many stopped to take photos of the plane or a selfie of them leaving.
None required assistance to disembark or stroll the short distance to the terminal.
All passengers will be in quarantine for around six weeks, according to authorities in the Netherlands.
Netherlands residents would be transported home for home isolation while citizens of other countries will be taken to a “quarantine location,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Relieved that they are safely on their way after a period of uncertainty and that other passengers are travelling home via other routes,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen on X.
Spanish civil protection chief Virginia Barcones told local radio there were also Belgian, Greek, German, Guatemalan and Argentine citizens on board the flight.
A phalanx of German ambulances entered the airport minutes after the plane touched down.
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius ship has been at the centre of a global health scare after three passengers died amid a hantavirus outbreak.
Two sick evacuees arrived in the Netherlands last week and are being treated in separate hospitals. They have both tested positive for the virus and are said to be in stable condition.
No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, which is endemic in Argentina, where the ship departed in April.
But health officials have stressed that the risk for global public health is low and played down comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Once everyone has been evacuated, the ship will sail with a skeleton crew to the Dutch port of Rotterdam, according to its operator Oceanwide Expeditions.
