People slammed for mocking coaches used for Brits on coronavirus evacuation flight

A plane carrying 83 Brits and 27 non-UK nationals evacuated from the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak will land in a small English village this afternoon.

After several delays, the flight left the city of Wuhan in China at 9.45am local time and is expected to arrive at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at around 1pm.

While none of the passengers on board have been confirmed to have contracted the deadly disease, they will all be quarantined at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral for 14 days.

It comes after the World Health Organisation yesterday declared a global health emergency as the death toll hit 170, and the first two cases in the UK were confirmed this morning, with two members of the same family testing positive for coronavirus.

Coaches have been scrambled to transport passengers to the hospital, with the firm responsible stating that drivers had agreed to take the job - although it's unsure if they will also face being quarantined.

As the coaches arrived at the Brize Norton RAF base at 10am this morning, many watching on TV spotted each had the company name 'Horseman' emblazoned on the side - leading to comments about an impending apocalpyse.

One questioned if using Horseman coaches was the 'best choice of transport', adding 'Apocalypse anyone?'

A third said someone in the government had a 'great sense of humour' on what is also Brexit day, asking 'is this this the four horsemen of the apocalypse?"

Another wrote: "The coach company they are using just happens to be called 'Horseman'. #TheFourHorsemenOfTheApocalypse."

But others hit out at the comments, with one firing back: "Such bad taste to be going on about the coronavirus rescue mission with giggly talk of 'four horseman of the apocalypse' because the coaches are from a company with Horseman in the name.

"Yet that's the world we live in. All about the memes."

The four horsemen of the apocalypse are described in the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, with each representing a different disaster, including bloodshed, war and famine.