More Europeans flee China virus as plane heads to France

French passengers leave in buses a military air base, Friday Jan.31, 2020 in Istres, southern France after arriving by plane from the virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan. A planeload of French citizens from the virus-hit city of Wuhan has landed in southern France on Friday, and its passengers are being taken to a Mediterranean vacation resort for 14 days of quarantine. (Photo by DANIEL COLE / AP)

A second French-chartered plane carrying 300 evacuees from China was flying to France on Sunday as more foreigners fled China’s rapidly developing novel corona virus.

The A380 is expected to land at the military base of Istres in the southern French region of Bouches-du-Rhone. A first plane landed Friday near Marseille.

Officials said none of the passengers on this plane from the central Chinese city of Wuhan had symptoms of coronavirus on leaving China. They include French, Belgians, Dutch, Danes, Czechs, Slovaks and some citizens of African countries.

Authorities said the plane would drop off most of its passengers at Istres before leaving for Belgium with several dozen people from northern Europe. Authorities haven’t said if the travelers arriving at Istres will be put into quarantine.

Of the 180 French people flown back from Wuhan on Friday, one showed symptoms of being infected with the virus and was sent to a Marseille hospital for testing, French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said.

The other passengers were being quarantined for 14 days at a large, isolated Mediterranean resort not far from Marseille near Carry-le-Rouet.

Europe so far has 23 people infected with the virus that emerged from Wuhan: Germany with eight, all tied to the same auto parts factory; France with six; Russia, Italy and the U.K with two each and Finland, Sweden and Spain each with one.

READ: Quarantines await Europeans flown home amid virus outbreak

The death toll from the virus in China climbed Sunday to 304 and the number of infections rose to 14,380. In addition, the Philippines on Sunday reported the first virus death outside of China.

READ: New virus has infected more than 14,550 globally

On Saturday night, a Turkish military transport plane carrying 42 people arrived in Ankara from Wutan. The 32 Turkish, six Azerbaijani, three Georgian nationals and an Albanian will remain under observation in hospital for 14 days, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

Twenty Turkish personnel who participated in the evacuation will also be kept in quarantine.

/atm