Passengers leave food poisoned-stricken cruise ship in Brazil

Passengers leave cruise ship in Brazil

SAO PAULO — Health authorities have allowed passengers to leave a cruise ship that had been quarantined in southeastern Brazil after hundreds were stricken with vomiting and diarrhea.

Royal Caribbean spokesman Rodrigo Dionisio says the 310 people who suffered gastrointestinal disorders aboard the Vision of the Seas have recovered.

He says the ship’s 1,987 passengers and 765 crew members started leaving the ship Friday morning.

The vessel will undergo a a thorough cleansing before leaving on another cruise later in the day.

The ship arrived in the port of Santos early Friday from the coastal resort town of Buzios where the first case was detected earlier this week.

Most of the ill were Brazilians.