MELBOURNE: A couple have said that they were made to spend four hours sitting close to a dead body while flying with Qatar Airways.
On their way to Italy, Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were traveling from Melbourne to Doha when, some ten hours into the trip, a woman fainted next to their row after exiting the restroom.
“It was quite tragic to witness that the woman was not able to be saved,” Ring said on Australia’s “A Current Affair show”.
He continued: “They tried to wheel her up towards business class, but she was quite a large lady and they couldn’t get her through the aisle.”
The woman was placed in one of the available seats for the final four hours of the journey, according to the couple, who were the only ones in a row of four.
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“They said, ‘Can you move over please?’ and I just said, ‘Yes, no problem,’” Mr. Ring told Australian reporters.
“Then they placed the lady in the chair I was in.”
There were other empty seats close by, he added, but the staff didn’t offer to relocate them.
Ring said that when medical personnel landed, they were given no assistance and instructed to remain still as they took off the blankets covering the woman.
“First and foremost, our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight,” Qatar Airways stated in a statement to NBC News, Sky’s US partner network.
“We apologise for any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused, and are in the process of contacting passengers in line with our policies and procedures.”