Eerie video shows passengers on the MV Hondius cruise ship being told about the first hantavirus death — with the captain unknowingly telling them the “ship is safe” before realizing the ordeal they would face.
“This is my sad duty to inform you that one of our passengers suddenly passed away last night,” the captain, Jan Dobrogowski, said in the video taken April 12, a day after a 70-year-old Dutch man died, but before knowing it was from the spreading, deadly virus.
“Tragic as it is, it was due to natural causes, we believe. And also whatever health issues he was struggling with, I’m told by the doctor, were not infectious, so the ship is safe when it comes to that.”
Jan Dobrogowski, the captain of the MV Hondius, informing passengers that a traveler has died at sea. @ruhicenet via InstagramThe captain told passengers that “very sad” deaths happen at sea, again trying to reassure them that nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
“This gentleman unfortunately succumbed to natural causes and like I say we’ll do what we can in order to continue in a safe and dignified way,” he said.
Another ship official then told passengers the man was under “intensive care” before his death.
Turkish blogger Ruhi Cenet expressed anger, however, that he and other guests then continued to socialize as normal after being told there was “no contagious disease” on board.
He suggested staff should have realized the risk earlier to alert passengers.
“So this was a relaxing explanation, but this was not the case because the first death was because of the hantavirus,” he said.
A suspected hantavirus patient pictured being loaded onto an ambulance in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. @DrTedros/X“And after this announcement, we were not ready, or we were not isolated for what was to come.
“We were together during breakfast, lunch and dinner timings in the dining room all together. There was an open buffet, and we had lecture sessions, group activities still, even after the day that we heard someone passed away.
“Until my last day, 24th of April, we didn’t take any [pre]cautions. We were not informed about the situation, and the ship management, I think, didn’t know anything about the virus.”
Here’s the latest on the deadly hantavirus outbreak on the Dutch cruise ship:
- Hantavirus-ridden MV Hondius will set sail again — and much sooner than you may expect
- Spanish passenger on MV Hondius tests positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from cruise ship
- Hantavirus is gaining ground in the US, startling researchers: ‘Widespread and complex virus’
- High hantavirus levels found in rodents in parts of US — suggesting greater exposure risk: study
The MV Hondius was anchored in West African waters after being blocked from docking in Cape Verde. APThe captain’s announcement was about a Dutch traveler — who has yet to be identified — who started feeling ill with a fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea on April 6, more than two weeks after the cruise left Argentina on its 35-day expedition.
He then developed acute respiratory distress before dying on April 11.
Argentine officials told the Associated Press they believe the man and his 69-year-old wife contracted the virus while bird-watching in Ushuaia.
With Post wires
