UK authorities are considering repatriating 74 British nationals on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked in the Japanese city of Yokohama, a spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office (FCO) told CNN.
We sympathize with all those caught up in this extremely difficult situation. We are urgently considering all options to guarantee the health and safety of the British people on board the Diamond Princess, in line with the latest advice from the Chief Medical Officer and the World Health Organisation, and are working closely with the Japanese authorities and our international partners," an FCO spokesperson said.
“Our staff in Tokyo, including the Ambassador, have been in regular contact with the British passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess and we have also been speaking to families in the UK,” the spokesperson added.
What the passengers are saying: In a Facebook live broadcast on Sunday, British passenger David Abel said that passengers aboard the ship were becoming "despondent" as other countries, including the US, started to evacuate their citizens.
“It feels that we have been forgotten. That you don’t really care about us, and that you’re actually not wanting us to come home,” he said, calling on the UK government to evacuate British nationals aboard the ship.