The cruise ship, SS Diamond Princess, which has been docked at Yokohama in Japan, whilst hundreds of its passengers are being tested for the Coronavirus, has been over-run by a contingent of men with makeshift weapons, who have seized control of the vessel, and set sail, in order, they say, to "end humanity".
About 5am this morning, around 30 passengers, all male, surrounded medical staff and the two security officers present, and forced them to leave the ship.
An unidentified passenger then made a statement, saying:
"We, the passengers of the Diamond Princess, are not going to sit idly by and die cooped-up on this tin wreck, so that you lot can survive, whilst we cough and rot. If you think we are, you've got another think coming. We are setting sail, and will travel to as many countries as possible, infecting as many people as we can. Why should we be the only ones to suffer?"
It's though the ship has enoughfuel and rations onboard to sustain a lengthy voyage of several months, and the authorities in countries nearby are showing some early concern.
Fighter jets were being scrambled from various local airfields.
