German Ebola aid delivery stranded

One of two aircraft carrying Ebola aid bound for Senegal was forced to remain grounded on the Spanish archipelago, the Bundeswehr confirmed on Monday. A different plane was sent to the island of Gran Canaria replace it.

The second aircraft was able to continue to the Senegalese capital, Dakar, a military spokesman said.

The aid delivery is part of the German effort to combat the growing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The Bundeswehr is sending four military aid transports and 100 soldiers to assist in the relief effort, which is based out of Dakar.

Thelatest Ebola outbreak has infected more than 6,500 people, claiming more than 3,000 lives in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen asked for a group of volunteers to head to the area affected by Ebola, with preparations to begin next week. It's unclear how volunteers will be brought back to Germany, should they become infected.

The Canary Islands grounding is just the German military's latest plane-related slip-up. Last week, several Bundeswehr officials sent to train Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq as part of a German weapons delivery to the region were forced to spend nearly a week in Bulgaria due to defects on multiple transport aircraft.

dr/bw (epd, AFP, dpa)