World2 min(s) read
Published 10:53 05 May 2026 GMT
A passenger trapped aboard the cruise ship with a suspected outbreak of a deadly disease that has killed three already broke down in an emotional video.
A travel influencer with more than 44,000 Instagram followers, Jake Rosmarin, shared the video on Monday, after the luxury Dutch cruise liner, MV Hondius, was refused permission to dock in Cape Verde.
He broke down in tears over “very real” fears of a major outbreak after it was revealed three passengers had died and others remain critically ill.
While sobbing, he said, “I am currently on board the MV Hondius. What’s happening right now is very real for all of us here.
“We’re not just a story, we’re not just headlines. We’re people with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty and that’s the hardest part. All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity and to get home.”
On Sunday, May 3, the vessel requested help from local health authorities after nearing the tiny island nation of Cape Verde, but according to the company operating the cruise, was refused permission to dock.
An estimated 150 people are stuck on the cruise ship despite the death of three people, a Dutch couple and a German national, from a suspected Hantavirus outbreak.
According to officials, a 70-year-old Dutch man died on April 11 after developing a fever, headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
However, his body was not removed from the vessel until two weeks after his death, and at the same time, his 69-year-old wife was transferred to South Africa from the British territory of Saint Helena, but collapsed at Johannesburg airport and died at a nearby hospital.
The third casualty, a German national, died aboard the ship on Saturday, May 2.
Healthcare professionals are reportedly working to evacuate two people showing symptoms of the deadly virus.
A British man suffering from symptoms was taken off the ship and evacuated to South Africa on April 27, where he later tested positive for hantavirus.
The rare disease is an infection contracted through inhaling infected rodent feces, saliva, or blood, which can cause serious respiratory illness or hemorrhagic fever.
Investigators are working around the clock to determine what is causing the infections and whether other passengers and crew members are at risk.
