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| The quarantined plane at Gatwick Aiport. |
Airport Workers said they were terrified the virus could spread globally through the busy international hub from the West African country which is in the grip of the deadly epidemic.
The woman, said to be 72, became ill on the gangway after she left a Gambia Bird jet with 128 passengers on board. She died in hospital.
Ebola has killed 256 people in Sierra Leone. A total of 826 have died in West Africa since the outbreak began in February. Tests are now being carried out to see if the woman had disease.
The plane was quarantined as officials desperately tried to trace everyone who had been in contact with the woman.
Airport workers face an anxious wait to see if the woman had Ebola. One said: “Everyone’s just petrified.
“We’ve all seen how many people have died from Ebola, especially in Sierra Leone, and it’s terrifying.”
Speaking of the horrific moment the passenger collapsed, the shocked staff member added: “The woman was sweating buckets and vomiting.
“Paramedics arrived to try and help her. The next thing everybody was there… emergency crews, airfield operations, even immigration.
“They closed down the jet bridge and put the aircraft into quarantine.
“They took everyone’s details, even the guy who fuels the aircraft.”
The plane carrying the woman came from Freetown in Sierra Leone – a country with the highest number of victims from the disease.
It stopped at Banjul in The Gambia before landing in Gatwick at 8.15am on Saturday after a five-hour flight. Public Health England tried to allay fears of an Ebola breakout in Britain.
It said the woman showed no symptoms during the flight.
Queen of the Naija Blog
Queen of the Naija Blog