Ebola scare on Canary Islands nudist beach

A group of migrants caused a scare at a nudist beach in the Canary Islands after arriving on land reporting symptoms of Ebola.

The 19 migrants from Sierra Leone and Guinea arrived on the Gran Canaria beach of Maspalomas on a fishing boat early on Wednesday morning.

They were isolated for seven hours after Red Cross officials arrived at the beach and separated them from nudist beachgoers, leaving masks, food and water 50 metres away from them.

The Mirror reports the migrants had to wait until the Government of Gran Canaria decided whether or not to activate protocol measures to eliminate risk to tourists.

A truck later took them away to a holding centre and authorities confirmed that none of the migrants tested positive for the deadly virus.

According to the IB Times, Marco Aurelio Perez, the mayor of San Bartolome, said: "It presents risks because it is an established destination. Unfortunately, illegal immigration has become a common sight in the West."

The Daily Mail reports that a dump truck had to be used to take the migrants away as the beach is so remote it would have taken multiple trips in an ambulance.

The Maspalomas beach is accessed on foot by a two kilometre walk across sand dunes.

According to the Mirror, the treatment of the migrants sparked fury among some people.

The World Health Organisation reports that Ebola has now taken the lives of 4,818 people.