Passengers start disembarking from hantavirus-stricken cruise ship in Spain's Canary Islands

Source: AP

Updated 6:10 AM EDT, May 10, 2026


TENERIFE, Canary Islands (AP) — Passengers started disembarking on Sunday from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship anchored off Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, hours after arriving there as evacuation plans got underway.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene saw people reaching land after leaving the ship. Nobody among the more than 140 people on the MV Hondius is showing symptoms of the virus, Spanish authorities, the World Health Organization and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said.

Spain’s health ministry said that Spanish nationals would be the first to leave the ship, and would be ferried off in small launch boats that carry between five and 10 people. The cruise ship reached Tenerife early Sunday morning, after leaving Cape Verde on May 6.

Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness. Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms, and are being taken off the ship only once evacuation flights are ready to fly them to their destinations.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/hantavirus-cruise-ship-hondius-tenerife-1c43c66d2b0555cf946d9e57fc65f1d4