Coronavirus outbreak: Cruise ship met with violent protests on Reunion Island
The clashes came after weeks of unrest across the world during fears about the global spread of the disease.
Monday 2 March 2020 17:28, UK
A cruise ship has reportedly been denied entry to two countries and met with protests at a third, in the latest unrest to come during fears about the global coronavirus outbreak.聽
More than 2,000 Australians and New Zealanders were on the Sun Princess when it docked at Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, the New Zealand Herald reports.
Protesters are said to have screamed abuse and hurled rocks at the first shuttle buses of passengers that arrived in Pointe des Gallets port on Sunday.
The demonstrations erupted despite there being no recorded cases on board.
Protesters also threw rocks and bottles at police, according to the Imaz Press Reunion news agency on the island.
The news service added that officers responded by firing tear gas.
Rod Pascoe, a holidaymaker on the ship, told the New Zealand Herald: "Some passengers were very distressed and others (were) absolutely steaming, fuming when they got back.
"People feared for their safety."
Mr Pascoe said that only the main gates were affected and so passengers were able to make it on to the main part of the island through another gate.
The ship reportedly left the island rather than staying overnight after local authorities said they couldn't guarantee the vessel's safety.
The Sun Princess is then said to have headed to its next stop Mauritius, where it was later told it was not allowed to dock.
It is reported to have earlier been refused entry to Madagascar in mid-February.
The Reunion Island clashes came after weeks of unrest across the world as the coronavirus spread to every continent except Antarctica.
Soldier 'attacked in Cyprus'
Dozens of people pushed aside police barriers in Cyprus on Saturday in a protest against the closing of a crossing point in the ethnically divided island's capital Nicosia.
Protesters chanted and raised placards opposing the closure, which the Cypriot government said it had ordered to prevent the coronavirus spread.
The government shut four of nine such crossings along the 120-mile (180km) length of the United Nations-controlled buffer zone, which separates a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north from an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south.
There have been no confirmed cases of the coronavirus found on either side of the divide so far.
Cyprus' justice minister said he instructed the chief of police to investigate reports that protesters attacked a Greek Cypriot soldier at the crossing point.
Police officers need treatment after Ukraine clashes
Coronavirus fears triggered violence in the Ukraine where protesters hurled stones at buses carrying evacuees.
Demonstrators in the village of Novi Sanzhary in the central Poltava region clashed with police and burned tyres, as the convoy led 70 evacuees to a quarantine centre in the area.
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Hundreds of helmeted officers, police vans and an armoured personnel carrier were dispatched to keep order as the villagers waited for evacuees to arrive.
Nine officers and one civilian needed hospital treatment as a result of the wider clashes, regional police said in a statement.
Protests against quarantine locations in Hong Kong
Riot police descended on parts of Hong Kong to clear crowds of protesters who opposed the building of quarantine sites in their areas, according to news reports.
Police are said to have tackled demonstrators in Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung, Tai Po and Fo Tan on 8 February.
Officers reportedly fired tear gas after protesters threw objects at police vehicles.
Around 60 people are said to have been arrested over the demonstrations.