Cruiseliner passengers set foot in Cambodia

The 1,455 passengers on board has been cleared of no one carrying the coronavirus, a spokesman for the Southeast Asian country's health ministry told Reuters on Thursday(February 13).

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen personally greeted the passengers with handshakes and bouquets of roses as they stepped off the ship and boarded an awaiting bus.

Earlier the regional governor, Kuoch Chamreun, said he had visited passengers from a safe distance before the results of the tests were confirmed, and added that they "all look very happy that the government has allowed them in here".

The ship had been turned away by Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines and Thailand over fears that someone on the cruise could have the new flu-like virus.