Countries airlift nationals evacuated from virus-hit cruise ship

More than 90 of the passengers of a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship will have been evacuated and flown home from the Canary Islands by the end of Sunday, Spain has said.

Fourteen Spanish nationals from Tenerife to Madrid face mandatory quarantine at a military hospital in the capital. They were followed by French and British nationals, who were taken to Paris and Manchester, respectively.

Staff involved in the operation in Tenerife pulled white hazmat suits over the evacuees' clothes and hosed them down on the airport tarmac.

Three people have died in the outbreak on the Dutch vessel MV Hondius, including two who were confirmed to have had hantavirus.

Flights for Turkish, Irish and US citizens are also scheduled on Sunday - leaving fewer than 60 passengers still aboard, according to Spain's health secretary Javier Padilla.

The Hondius pulled into the port of Granadilla before dawn on Sunday, a month after the first of its passenger died.

The sun rose to reveal it had anchored offshore, with military police boats on patrol and a major operation unfolding on land to help more than 100 passengers and crew disembark.

At about 07:00 local time (06:00 GMT), medical teams went aboard to check everyone for signs of the virus.

Passengers could be seen from afar wandering around on the deck of the ship, or at the windows, all in white medical face masks, as the first evacuations took place on Sunday morning.

Several sat socially distanced on the first evacuation boat, filming and taking photos as they approached land, where they were met by officials in white protective suits.

While being couriered to the airport, some British passengers - clad in blue PPE - waved and gave thumbs up as they drove past the assembled media.

They were followed by 27 people - including Belgian, Greek, German and Argentine citizens - being taken to the Netherlands, and then the ship's Irish and Turkish passengers.

Other flights are poised to depart after that, including to the US. The last evacuation flight is expected to leave for Australia on Monday.

The cruise passengers face having to self-isolate after leaving Tenerife, a gruelling prospect as the virus has an incubation period of up to nine weeks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a 42-day quarantine period for the cruise passengers from their last exposure.