MADRID – Five European nations have committed to dispatching aircraft to retrieve their citizens from a cruise vessel bound for Spain following a hantavirus outbreak aboard the ship, according to Spain’s interior minister who spoke in Madrid on Saturday.
Fernando Grande-Marlaska announced that Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands have all confirmed their evacuation plans. Additionally, the European Union will provide two more aircraft for other European passengers, he stated.
The United States and United Kingdom have also arranged flights and backup plans for non-EU passengers whose home countries cannot provide air transportation, Grande-Marlaska explained.
Travelers will be permitted to bring only necessary personal items, while their remaining baggage and the body of a passenger who died aboard the vessel will stay with the ship as it travels to the Netherlands for disinfection procedures, Garcia noted.
Spanish nationals will be the first to leave the ship, with health officials determining the sequence for evacuating other passenger groups. Grande-Marlaska emphasized that no passengers will be permitted to leave the vessel until their designated evacuation aircraft is prepared for immediate departure.
