The Learjet 45 was refused permission to land to refuel(Image: AP)

A medical plane carrying two people evacuated fromthe virus-ravaged cruise liner MV Hondiuswas forced to make an unscheduled stop this afternoon after being refused permission to land inMorocco.

TheLearjet 45had been scheduled to refuel in Marrakech afterhealthpersonnel removed the pair in hazmat suits on stretchers from the boat off the Cape Verde coast. But the emergency flight ended up having to reroute to Gando Air Base, a Spanish Air Force hub on the east coast of Gran Canaria, after Moroccan air traffic control refused the landing request.

The flight was due to leave again for its final destination of Holland around 5.40pm local time today. It was not immediately clear if the patient on board was the seriously-ill British doctor evacuated earlier today. As well as the 56-year-old Brit, a 41-year-old Dutchman and a 65-year-old German were also evacuated from the Dutch-owned cruise liner to Amsterdam.

Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed earlier today the unnamed medic’s condition ahead of the emergency airlift had improved. She said: “The British doctor was yesterday in a more critical condition but he has been stabilised and won’t be transferred to Spain now in line with the Dutch government’s request to us, but is instead being transferred to Holland."

It was not immediately clear why the Moroccan authorities had refused to let the Learjet 45 land. Footage published online showed it touching down at Gando Air Base.

The news comes as two Argentine government officials investigating the origins of the hantavirus outbreak on board the MV Hondius cruise ship have said it may be linked to a couple's birdwatching tour at a landfill.

Three people have been evacuated from the ship

Two officials investigating the deadly viral outbreak aboard the vessel have said that the virus may have gotten onto the ship after a Dutch couple went to a landfill site in Ushuaia, on the Tierra del Fuego, before boarding the boat.

The two Argentine officials spoke on condition of anonymity, telling the Associated Press that the couple may have been exposed to rodents at the landfill site. Authorities previously said Ushuaia and surrounding Tierra del Fuego province had never recorded a hantavirus case.

Source: Drudge Report