Mexico visitors head for home as flu fears spread

By Helen Popper and Mica Rosenberg

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Tourists and foreign students hurried to leave Mexico on Wednesday because of fears of swine flu and worries that flights would be cancelled after news the virus claimed its first fatality outside Mexico.

Millions of travellers come to Mexico each year to visit beaches, ancient pyramids and quaint colonial towns but on Wednesday some headed to the airport sooner than planned.

"We didn't want to get stuck here," said Australian Alex Grinter, who left her beach vacation in the southern state of Oaxaca to get an early flight to Vancouver.

Kyra Bornemann, 20, from Germany, cut short a trip to do voluntary teaching work. "I decided yesterday to fly today because I was worried the flight might be cancelled," she said.

Up to 159 people are believed to have died in Mexico from the flu, a virus that passes from human to human and has spread to more than 20 countries. Many suspected cases in other parts of the world are in people who made trips to Mexico.

Wednesday's announcement that a 22-month-old Mexican boy had died in a Texas hospital was the first time a fatality had been recorded outside Mexico, but the World Health Organisation warned that a global flu pandemic was imminent.

Argentina and Cuba have temporarily halted flights from Mexico, and the United States has advised against non-essential visits to its southern neighbour.

Ecuador said it was restricting charter flights to and from Mexico for 30 days, while France said it would seek a European Union ban on Thursday on flights to Mexico.