Around 100 passengers and crew were struck with a flu-like illness during an Emirates flight from Dubai to New York on Wednesday. The jet was briefly quarantined at New York's John F Kennedy airport when it landed with around 521 passengers shortly after 9am, US authorities said. The jet's pilot declared a medical emergency before landing and reported two male passengers on board with extremely high fevers and approximately 100 passengers "coughing non-stop", according to local news site ABC 7 NY. Heath officials carried out medical checks on passengers and evaluated their symptoms. While they are still processing tests to determine the cause officials said the symptoms pointed to the flu virus. One passenger, Erin Sykes, posted video of officials wearing masks and gloves taking the temperature of passengers on the tarmac. Ms Sykes said she saw a few passengers being taken off the plane first for medical attention, but she added that "many, many" others were showing signs of illness. She described them as suffering from "very intense coughing" and being "violently sick - going into the bathroom a lot". The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said around 100 people complained of feeling sick on Emirates Flight 203. Their symptoms included cough and fever, the agency said. At least 10 passengers were taken to Jamaica Hospital in Queens for treatment while nine others "refused medical attention", said Eric Phillips, a spokesman for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. All the passengers are off and have been evaluated. 19 sick. 10 to hospital and 9 refused medical attention. Health officials are processing tests now to determine the cause. Symptoms still pointing to the flu. https://t.co/ZWURgb68bJ— Eric Phillips (@EricFPhillips) September 5, 2018 Mr Phillips said some of the passengers appeared to have come from Mecca, Saudi Arabia - which is currently experiencing a flu outbreak - before boarding the plane in Dubai. Passengers who were not affected were able to continue on their way a few hours after the plan landed. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said they were monitoring the situation and President Donald Trump was being updated as new information became available. Dubai-based Emirates Airline initially said that 10 passengers "were taken ill" on the flight and were transported to hospital, but it is unclear why there was a wide disparity in numbers. The aircraft was taken to a location away from the terminal so that emergency officials could evaluate the situation, officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement. The airplane involved was a double-deck Airbus A388 - the world's largest passenger aircraft - according to FlightAware.com.
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2M0nWPO
via Latest News
Comments
Post a Comment