Video obtained by Reuters on Wednesday (May 6) showed planes believed to be carrying hantavirus patients parked on the tarmac at an airport in Cape Verde.

Both evacuation flights taking patients out of the country left the African archipelago on Wednesday, headed for the Netherlands, a Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said in a post on X that the three people evacuated from the ship were on their way to the Netherlands.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry said the patients included a Dutch person, a German and a Briton, and that they would be transported to specialised hospitals in Europe.

The people were travelling on a luxury cruise ship, which set off from the southern tip of Argentina in late March, when the hantavirus outbreak occurred.

Cape Verde had been intended as the ship's final destination, but the government has not allowed the passengers to come ashore because of the outbreak.

The luxury cruise ship, MV Hondius, was set to leave for Spain on Wednesday after the three people, two of them seriously ill, were evacuated.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: SAID TO BE PRAIA, CAPE VERDE (GIVEN AS MAY 6, 2026) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS – No archive. No resale.)

1. PLANES ON TARMAC AT AIRPORT, BELIEVED TO BE CARRYING HANTAVIRUS PATIENTS