British paratroopers landed on a “golf course covered in rocks” to supply medical staff with oxygen in Britain’s most remote overseas region as it deals with a suspected case of hantavirus, an army commander said on Sunday.
Britain’s Health Safety Authority confirmed on Friday that a British national disembarked from the MV Hondius on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where they live, with a suspected case of hantavirus.
Six paratroopers, a Royal Air Force (RAF) adviser and an army nurse were parachuted to the island, which is normally only accessible by boat, while oxygen supplies and medical aid were also dropped.
An RAF A400M transport aircraft flew from RAF Brize Norton to Ascension Island, supported by RAF Voyager, before heading to Tristan da Cunha.
Tristan da Cunha, a group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, is Britain’s most remote overseas territory. Accessible only by boat and without an airport, it has only 221 residents. It is the world’s most remote inhabited island, located more than 2,400 kilometers – a six-day boat journey – from St Helena, its nearest inhabited neighbour.
