Plane believed carrying hantavirus-struck evacuee lands in Amsterdam: AFP
AFP
07 May 2026 13:44 PM
This handout picture released by Argentina's Health Ministry shows a scientist from the Malbran Institute handling containers used to diagnose the Andes hantavirus, which contain RNA from the Andes virus as part of the detection process, in Buenos Aires on May 6, 2026. Photo: AFP
A plane believed to be carrying a sick passenger from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrived in Amsterdam Thursday, AFP reporters saw, after an emergency evacuation from the vessel off the Cape Verde coast.
The air ambulance landed at Schiphol Airport at 08:54 local time, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
The ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, has confirmed that a passenger "in stable condition" was to be evacuated to the Netherlands. The other two evacuees arrived in Amsterdam late Wednesday.
Officials in Spain, where the flight made an unexpected stop on Gran Canaria island, confirmed that the patient "had been transferred to Amsterdam on a different medicalised aircraft" than the one scheduled.
It was not immediately clear what would happen to this patient after landing.
Of the two passengers who landed on Wednesday, one was taken to a hospital in Leiden, in the Netherlands, the other to Germany.
