People threw rocks and bottles when a cruise ship carrying 2,000 passengers tried to dock in La Reunion over fears passengers onboard had coronavirus.
Protests broke out when holidaymakers tried to disembark the ship at the island's Saint-Denis port, with rocks thrown at security who tried to let travellers past.
Local authorities on the island, a French territory near Madagascar, dispersed protestors using tear gas.
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Coronavirus, officially Covid-19, has killed more than 3,000 people around the world and infected tens of thousands more.
Most of the passengers onboard the Sun Princess liner were from Australia and New Zealand. The ship left Adelaide on 20 January on an almost two-month itinerary around Australia, various countries in Asia and southern Africa.
Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty
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Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty
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A man wearing a face mask crosses a road in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
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A view of the empty entrance to the Università Cattolica (Catholic University) in Milan, northern Italy, on 24 February, 2020.
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Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February, 2020.
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Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February 2020.
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A lone sanitation worker sits near the closed Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on February 24, 2020.
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A view of a deserted street in Codogno, northern Italy, on February 23, 2020.
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Italian police officers set a road block in Codogno, Northern Italy, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020.
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A supermarket closed in Codogno, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown, on February 23, 2020.
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A lone cyclist wearing sanitary masks pedals in the center of Codogno, Northern Italy.
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An empty road at the entrance of the small Italian town of Codogno on February 23, 2020.
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A man wearing a face mask crosses a road in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
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A view of the empty entrance to the Università Cattolica (Catholic University) in Milan, northern Italy, on 24 February, 2020.
EPA
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Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February, 2020.
EPA
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Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February 2020.
EPA
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A lone sanitation worker sits near the closed Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on February 24, 2020.
Reuters
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A view of a deserted street in Codogno, northern Italy, on February 23, 2020.
EPA
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Italian police officers set a road block in Codogno, Northern Italy, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020.
AP
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A supermarket closed in Codogno, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown, on February 23, 2020.
EPA
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A lone cyclist wearing sanitary masks pedals in the center of Codogno, Northern Italy.
LaPresse via AP
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An empty road at the entrance of the small Italian town of Codogno on February 23, 2020.
AFP via Getty
She is due to dock in Perth later this month.
There are no infected cases of the flu-like virus onboard the liner, Princess Cruises confirmed.
Rod Pascoe, from New Zealand, told Mail Online: “Some passengers were very distressed and others absolutely steaming, fuming when they got back.
“People feared for their safety.”
Protestors throw rocks (Richard BOUHET / AFP)
A spokesperson for Sun Princess told The Independent: “A disruption on Reunion Island was quickly contained by the local authorities and we would like to thank them for their assistance.
“There was overall limited impact for Sun Princess guests. There are no health concerns on the ship and it will head to Perth, its final port of call, after departing Reunion Island."
More than 600 cases were detected onboard the ship. British and European passengers were evacuated last week and are currently in quarantine in Wirral.
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