Passengers started disembarking on Sunday from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship anchored off Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, hours after arriving there as evacuation plans got underway.

The cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak arrived off Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, where the passengers and some of the crew will begin disembarking on Sunday, officials said. Nobody among more than 140 people on board the MV Hondius is showing symptoms of the virus, Spanish authorities, the World Health Organization and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said. Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness. The ship will not dock but remain anchored.

A luxury cruise ship that ​has been hit by an outbreak of the deadly hantavirus was preparing to travel from Cape Verde towards Europe on Wednesday after the Spanish government gave permission for it to dock in the Canary Islands. Sarah Morris has more.

Spanish authorities are readying to receive the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak. The WHO has confirmed six hantavirus cases linked to the ship so far.

Spanish authorities are getting set to receive the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak. The WHO has confirmed six hantavirus cases linked to the ship so far.