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World / Europe

More than 1,700 held on Bordeaux cruise ship after suspected norovirus death

Published: 13 May 2026 - 02:35 pm | Last Updated: 13 May 2026 - 02:40 pm

AFP

Bordeaux: French authorities on Wednesday confined more than 1,700 passengers and crew on a cruise ship docked in Bordeaux after a passenger died from a suspected norovirus, officials said.

The Ambassador Cruise Line ship -- with a majority of the 1,233 passengers from Britain or Ireland -- arrived in the western port of Bordeaux on Tuesday.

One 90-year-old passenger on the Ambition had died and about 50 people showed symptoms of norovirus, health officials said.

Norovirus is a form of gastroenteritis, which causes vomiting and diarrhea and is highly contagious.

The ship, which left the Shetland Islands on May 6, stopped in Belfast in Northern Ireland, Liverpool in Britain, and Brest in France before reaching Bordeaux, from where it was scheduled to depart for Spain.