Spain evacuates virus-hit ship in Tenerife
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 10 May 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The passengers of a cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak have started leaving the vessel off the Spanish island of Tenerife. Five people were seen boarding a small boat, socially distanced from each other and wearing protective clothing and face masks. They were met by officials in white hazmat suits, then boarded a coach to take them to the airport. They'll be flown out on charter flights. Three people died and several others become infected in the outbreak. Also in the programme: Police in Pakistan say militants have detonated a car bomb at a police checkpoint and opened fire, killing 15 officers; and 35 years after the film was released, we look at the legacy of The Silence of the Lambs. (Photo: Passengers were evacuated from the ship dressed in hazmat suits. They were hosed down before boarding a plane in Tenerife. Credit: Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.0 | Hello and welcome to the programme. This is News Hour from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Henley. We're coming to you live from London. |
| 0:17.3 | Spain's health minister says an operation to get more than 100 passengers and crew off a cruise ship |
| 0:22.8 | at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak is proceeding normally. |
| 0:27.9 | This is Monica Garcia, speaking after the MV Hondius dropped anchor off the island of Tenerife |
| 0:34.2 | just before passengers disembarked. |
| 0:37.0 | This operation is an unprecedented operation. I want to thanks to the WHO, to the ECDC, to all the |
| 0:44.8 | administrations, all the countries that are involved. This operation requires the cooperation |
| 0:50.5 | of 23 countries. I want to remark this. 23 countries are involved in this |
| 0:56.4 | operation. I want to thanks all the institutions. Three people have died and virologists think that |
| 1:04.3 | the six confirmed hantavirus cases on board were probably caused when the ship was visiting |
| 1:09.8 | areas inhabited by infected rodents. |
| 1:13.1 | Mar-Martin is chief intensive care doctor at the Candelaria Hospital in Tenerife, |
| 1:19.0 | and she told the BBC everything was being done to prevent further infection on land. |
| 1:26.1 | Everything is ready for patient care in this highly isolation unit where we can treat a critically ill patient without any problems. |
| 1:34.8 | All the necessary technology and staff training, which is very important, are available. |
| 1:41.7 | Tedros Adhanom Gabriessus is the head of the world health organization. |
| 1:46.4 | He's at the port in Tenerife, along with those Spanish health officials. |
| 1:51.2 | This is not another COVID, and the risk to the public is low. |
| 1:57.4 | They shouldn't be scared, and they shouldn't panic. |
| 1:59.9 | This is based on how the virus is behaving now because this virus is well known and there are assessments that have been done. |
| 2:10.3 | But not only that, this, you know, for several years, there were assessments on the behavior of the virus. |
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