Passengers aboard a cruise ship affected by a deadly hantavirus outbreak will start being flown to their countries of origin after the vessel arrives in the Canary Islands on Sunday, the Spanish government said on Friday.
The MV Hondius is scheduled to reach the port of Granadilla on the island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, on Sunday morning, cabinet minister Angel Victor Torres told journalists.
“That same day, we will have planes available and will be able to start getting these people onto the planes,” he said.
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Interior ministry sources had earlier said evacuations would begin on Monday, with European Union countries repatriating their own citizens.
The MV Hondius is a Dutch-flagged vessel and Dutch officials said on Friday they were also in close contact with the ship’s owner and authorities of countries whose citizens are on board.
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The United States has agreed to send a plane to the Canary Islands to repatriate its 17 citizens from the cruise ship. The British government also said it will charter a plane to evacuate the nearly two dozen British nationals on board.