A large cargo ship is seen behind migrant boats stacked at the port of Granadilla de Abona, on the island of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands archipielago, on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Oscar DEL POZO / AFP)
Gran Canaria, Spain: One of two planes that left Cape Verde following the evacuation of three people from a ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak landed in Spain's Canary Islands on Wednesday.
An AFP journalist saw the jet land at the airport of Gran Canaria, but it was unclear which of the evacuees were onboard.
At least one of the two planes was due to go to Amsterdam, but no arrival in the Canary Islands had been confirmed by authorities.
Canaries authorities told AFP they did not know why the plane had landed in Gran Canaria.
Spain's Health Minister Monica Garcia said the stricken cruise ship MV Hondius would arrive at the island of Tenerife by Saturday for medical examinations and repatriations of the passengers.
The Atlantic archipelago's regional government has opposed receiving the Dutch-flagged ship, requesting that any medical treatment and repatriations take place from Cape Verde.
Two sick crew members and another person who had been in contact with one of the confirmed cases had been taken off the MV Hondius on Wednesday and boarded flights at Cape Verde's capital Praia.
The vessel has been at the centre of an international health scare since last weekend, when the UN's health agency was informed that three passengers had died and the suspected cause was hantavirus.
The rare disease is usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva.
