A GUARDIA Civil officer has died of a heart attack while helping evacuate passengers from a disease-stricken cruise ship docked in the Canary Islands.
The 62-year-old officer was on standby at a command post in Tenerife when the tragedy occurred, according to Guardia Civil union Jucil.
He was pronounced dead at the scene after more than 40 minutes of resuscitation efforts.
“Another colleague loses his life in the line of duty. Another family devastated,” Jucil said in a social media post.
The incident came as Spanish authorities coordinated a large-scale evacuation at Granadilla port, where the Dutch-owned liner MV Hondius docked early on Sunday.
The ship was carrying 146 passengers from 23 countries who were left stranded on board following a deadly outbreak of hantavirus that has already claimed three lives.
Spanish and World Health Organisation (WHO) officials have helped repatriate more than 90 passengers, including 22 people — 20 of them Britons — who were flown back to the UK.
Officials said evacuees are being screened for hantavirus before boarding return flights.
The WHO has recommended 42 days of isolation for those leaving the MV Hondius, but stressed that the risk of a global outbreak remains low.
An American national on a repatriation flight has tested positive for hantavirus, while another passenger is showing mild symptoms after leaving the cruise ship, the US health department said.
Both passengers who arrived in the US aboard a government-chartered plane travelled in ‘biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution,’ the department added.
All 17 US citizens on the flight will now undergo further screening at a medical facility in Nebraska.
One of the five French nationals repatriated from the MV Hondius has also tested positive for the virus, French health minister Stephanie Rist confirmed.
The patient, a woman who had been showing symptoms, is currently ‘in a hospital specialising in infectious diseases,’ the minister added.
A total of 14 Spanish citizens on board the Hondius were evacuated early on Sunday and transferred to the Gomez Ulla military hospital in Madrid.
Spain’s health minister Monica Garcia said the final two flights to evacuate the remaining passengers would depart on Monday afternoon.
One, heading to Australia, will carry six passengers. The other, bound for the Netherlands, will carry 18.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus commended Spain on the handling of the crisis.
“I’m grateful to … the whole government of Spain for their leadership and technical excellence shown throughout this operation,” he said.
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