Ecuador: plane repatriating Europeans stranded in Guayaquil, affected by the pandemic

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An Air Europa plane carrying 300 tourists, 170 of whom have been stranded in Ecuador for three weeks, was unable to take off from Guayaquil on Wednesday following a mechanical problem. All passengers are currently at the hotel in this city, the main source of covid-19 contagion in the country.

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with our correspondent in Quito, Eric Samson.

Yann Camarro spent much more time than expected in Ecuador. Arrived on February 7, he was in Otavalo, a small town known for its Indian market, when he was surprised by the suspension of flights decided by the Ecuadorian government to slow the spread of covid-19.

In recent weeks, more than 650 French tourists have been evacuated on jointly chartered flights by several European countries such as France, Spain, Germany or Switzerland.

This Air Europa flight was a priori the last and the French Embassy had taken care to concentrate tourists in Quito by avoiding passing through Guayaquil, the most important city in the country and also the most severely affected by the pandemic . Bad luck, this is where the plane broke down. " It's a problem with the toboggan, if I understood correctly ," explains Yann Camarro, reached on the phone.

Thanks to the support of the Ministries of Transport and Tourism, the passengers were able to leave the airport. They spend the night in the Oro Verde and Unipark hotels where masks and precautionary measures are not lacking. Once repaired, the plane should take off for Paris at midday on Thursday.

Ecuador is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic in South America. The latest official assessment shows 242 confirmed deaths and 4,450 cases of contamination. The province of Guayas of which Guayaquil is the capital concentrates two thirds of the cases and the city of 2.7 million inhabitants was particularly struck. Due to the sudden increase in the number of deaths in recent days, the funeral system has been unable to cope with the influx of bodies.

► Read also : The state of the world facing the pandemic on Wednesday April 8

The city of Guayaquil is paying a heavy price for the coronavirus pandemic. in the Angela Maria Canalis cemetery, employees build vaults to welcome the dead, April 8, 2020. REUTERS / Vicente Gaibor del Pino

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• Ecuador
• France
• Coronavirus

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