After prolonged confusion on the ground, Luxembourg Air Rescue (LAR) has now begun repatriating two passengers infected with hantavirus from a Dutch cruise ship near Cape Verde back to Europe.
At 11am local time on Wednesday (2pm Luxembourg time), the LAR-operated aircraft LX-RHC took off from Praia Airport. On board are two patients who contracted hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship.
The plane had landed at Praia Airport on Tuesday evening. In an interview with RTL shortly before noon on Wednesday, René Closter, president of LAR’s administrative board, described the situation on the ground as “confusing”.
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Rescue teams initially faced uncertainty over whether they would be tasked with transporting one or two patients. Closter noted that coordination involved multiple stakeholders, including the Dutch embassy and Cape Verdean authorities. Adding to the uncertainty, decisions by the Spanish government on whether the cruise ship will be permitted to continue to Tenerife also influenced operations on the ground.
According to international media reports, Turkish company Redstar Aviation will fly a third patient from Praia to Amsterdam.
