Planes will evacuate citizens from multiple countries aboard the Tenerife, Spain-bound cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, where six cases have been confirmed as the Andes strain of hantavirus.
The MV Hondius is set to anchor near Tenerife at 0300-0500 GMT on Sunday, or 10 p.m. to midnight ET.
Spain's interior minister said on Saturday that planes will come from Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands as well as two from the European Union for any remaining European citizens. The U.S. is arranging a repatriation flight for the Americans on board the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak, the State Department announced.
The U.S. and U.K. have confirmed planes and contingency plans were being arranged for non-EU citizens whose countries were unable to send air transport, he said.
Residents of multiple countries, including the United States, are being monitored after disembarking from the Hondius. Three people have died in connection with the outbreak.
