China coronavirus: Japanese evacuees describe confusion in Wuhan as infection spreads

Passengers felt creeping sense of panic in Chinese city as transport systems shut down and number of patients increased

Several Asian nations working to extract citizens from the epicentre of the viral outbreak that has infected nearly 6,000 people and killed more than 130

5-MIN READ5-MIN

Japanese passengers after being evacuated from Wuhan. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:30am, 29 Jan 2020Updated: 12:34pm, 30 Jan 2020

The first Japanese nationals evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday aboard a charter plane. The plane landed at Haneda airport at about 8.45am with 206 people were on board. At least 12 have been hospitalised, including two diagnosed with pneumonia.

Airport workers wearing face masks immediately began unloading luggage from the aircraft, and several buses pulled up, but there was no immediate sign of passengers leaving the plane. Ambulances could be seen nearby.

“We are very relieved,” said Takayuki Kato, one of the passengers, after touching down. “I was shocked when all transportation systems were suspended [in Wuhan]. That’s when the situation drastically changed.

“Everyone in the city began wearing masks. On the 23rd [of January], when transport was shut down, I became very alarmed.”

Takeo Aoyama, another passenger, described confusion in Wuhan, with travel restrictions intended to contain the virus making it hard for those in the epicentre to know what was happening.

“The number of patients began increasing rapidly at a certain point. That was very worrying,” he said.