Sawt Falasteen - France blames stomach bug for new cruise outbreak, lifts lockdown

Earlier, authorities had ordered a lockdown for the more than 1,700 passengers and crew on the vessel, but insisted there was no connection with the hantavirus outbreak suspected of killing three people on the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship, which has sparked international alarm.

Testing confirmed the outbreak on the Ambition, a cruise ship anchored in the port of Bordeaux in western France, was "a gastro-intestinal infection of viral origin", the local government and regional health agency said in a statement.

They said there were no severe cases, and that asymptomatic individuals were now free to disembark, but that those infected were required to remain in isolation on board.

News that a 92-year-old British passenger had died on the ship as dozens of others suffered upset stomachs initially caused concern.

But health authorities said the man had suffered a heart attack and that his death appeared unrelated to the illnesses.

"At this stage, no link has been established with the gastroenteritis episode," they said.

Port authorities said his body remained on board, "in accordance with international conventions".

- Bingo on board -

Authorities said that since Monday, 80 people on the ship had suffered from "symptoms consistent with an acute digestive infection".

They said the lockdown order had been issued as an "abundance of caution" and to "avoid psychosis", given international worry over the hantavirus outbreak on the Hondius, which set sail from Argentina and is now heading back to the Netherlands after being evacuated.

The Ambition, which is operated by the UK-based Ambassador Cruise Line company, arrived in Bordeaux on Tuesday with 1,233 passengers, mostly from Britain and Ireland, and 514 crew.

One passenger enduring the lockdown on Wednesday, Seos Guilidhe, a 52-year-old from the Northern Irish capital Belfast, sent AFP a message via Facebook as he was "playing bingo".

"We are onboard with extra sanitation guidelines in place. It is not as bad as it was during Covid. People just going about as normal," he wrote, referring to lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.

Passengers could be seen taking pictures of the French city from the deck.

Guilidhe later messaged: "We are allowed off the ship, restrictions lifted."

Others were less fortunate.

"Two of us in one cabin with the bug is a challenge," an infected passenger posted on Facebook.

- Waiting for 'clearance' -

Passengers on board the Ambition showed peak symptoms on Monday, when the ship was docked in Brest, officials said.

The ship, which left the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland on May 6, stopped in Belfast and Liverpool in England before reaching Bordeaux, from where it was scheduled to depart for Spain.

It was initially supposed to dock back in Liverpool on May 22.

The cruise line company said on its Facebook page its figures showed an increase in cases of illness after guests embarked in Liverpool on Saturday.

X.AbuJaber--SF-PST