Spain is evacuating passengers from a hantavirus-infected cruise ship docked near Tenerife in the Canary Islands, the BBC reported.
Health Minister Mónica García said the operation was "proceeding normally" and that all passengers on board the MS Hondius were still asymptomatic.
With a long camera lens, passengers could be seen wandering the ship's deck, or at the windows, all wearing white medical masks, as the first evacuation took place.
Some sat at social distance on the first evacuation ship, filming and taking photos as they approached land, where they were greeted by officials in white protective suits.
The ship's passengers are being separated into groups by nationality for transport ashore. They are being taken by bus to the local airport, where chartered planes will repatriate them to their countries of origin.
Footage of passengers on the airport runway showed staff involved in the operation donning white hazmat suits over passengers' clothes, then dousing them with water near the plane's steps before they boarded the plane.
Fourteen Spanish citizens will be the first to disembark, followed by those departing from the Netherlands, including Dutch, Greek and German passengers, as well as part of the crew.
Other flights are set to depart after that, including those to the UK and the US. The final evacuation flight is expected to depart for Australia on Monday.
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