Sickness strikes Rhine cruiser full of Britons

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Sixteen passengers were disembarked from the Dutch-registered Lady Anne ship and taken in a fleet of ambulances to a local hospital.

A further 23 out of the 110 passengers in total are being treated on board the ship by German medics and are not allowed to leave.

The cook has also been taken ill, fuelling speculation that hygiene problems may have sparked the outbreak.

The cruisers had paid nearly £400 a head for a five-day "Rhine Valley Turkey and Tinsel" trip which promised them "a real cracker of a Rhineland holiday". The website claims "aboard the seasonally decorated Lady Anne, a warm and convivial party atmosphere prevails, with mouth-watering German and English festive fare to tickle the tastebuds".

But a 999 call was placed to shore authorities yesterday evening by the skipper of the 116-berth vessel saying the passengers were going down like nine pins with the virus.

It berthed up today at Boppard on the river where the decision was taken to quarantine most of the passengers and evacuate the sickest.

The ship is operated by the River Cruise Line company in Market Harborough. A spokesman said: "These people come from all over the UK and we operate the ship. We are still trying to clarify details."

He said the ship's skipper was not British. According to local authorities near Boppard, the ship resembled "a floating dressing station".

A Red Cross spokesman who sent personnel aboard said: "A lot of people were really feeling terribly sick. Most of those affected are over 70 and suffering diarrhoea, stomach pains, vomiting - they were in a bad way." Those taken to hospital are being given fluid injections, according to medical authorities.

The gastric virus favours closed environments like cruise ships. It is highly contagious and many norovirus outbreaks have been traced to food that was handled by one infected person.

Samples taken from the sick have been sent to a laboratory in Heidelberg to determine just how virulent this strain of the virus is.

Christian Keimer, of the local health authority, said people on board were receiving "the best of treatment". He added: "Because the virus is so infectious it is best to keep them aboard ship."