90-Second Read: Passengers evacuated from Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship begin flying home from Canary Islands

Passengers evacuated from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship have started flying home aboard military and government planes after the vessel anchored in the Canary Islands. A Spanish passenger is sprayed with disinfectant by Spanish government officials before boarding a plane after disembarking from the Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. Passengers watch as others are disembarked from the Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. The first plane carrying passengers from the cruise ship left Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday for Madrid, where they will be taken to a military hospital.

Watch live as Americans evacuated from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius arrive at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, after the vessel docked in the Canary Islands. Three people have died since the outbreak began, and five people who left the ship earlier are infected with Hantavirus. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Earlier, one of the five French passengers developed symptoms on their flight home, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a statement, and all were put into strict isolation with plans to be tested.

None of the more than 140 people aboard has shown symptoms of the virus, according to authorities. Passengers were evacuated off the MV Hondius following its arrival in Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off the West African coast. Earlier, officials from the Spanish Health Ministry, the World Health Organization and the cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions had said none of the more than 140 people who were then on the Hondius had shown symptoms of the virus. Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings, and the disease is not easily transmitted between people.

Hours later, a plane that evacuated French passengers landed in Paris, where it was met by emergency vehicles. The planes arriving in Tenerife were to fly out passengers from more than 20 countries in an evacuation effort that was expected to last until Monday. Passengers were relieved to be on their way home, another WHO official said.