Paratroopers jump onto Britain’s most remote inhabited island for hantavirus mission

UK forces carry out first-ever deployment of medical personnel via parachute to reach isolated Tristan da Cunha

British paratroopers landed on a “golf course covered in rocks” to supply medical personnel and oxygen to Britain’s most remote overseas territory as it deals with a suspected hantavirus case, an army commander said on Sunday.

The UK Health Security Agency confirmed on Friday that a British national had disembarked from the cruise ship MV Hondius to the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where they live, with a suspected case of hantavirus.

Six paratroopers, a Royal Air Force (RAF) consultant and an army nurse were parachuted to the island, which is normally only accessible by boat, while oxygen supplies and medical aid were also dropped.

An RAF A400M transport aircraft flew from RAF Brize Norton to Ascension Island, supported by an RAF Voyager, before heading to Tristan da Cunha.

Tristan da Cunha, a group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, is Britain’s most remote inhabited overseas territory. Accessible only by boat and with no airstrip, it has a population of just 221. It is the world’s most remote inhabited island, located more than 2,400km – a six-day boat voyage – from St Helena, its nearest inhabited neighbour.