Two Ryanair passengers claim they suffered a string of injuries inflicted by police after allegedly being falsely accused of punching a member of cabin crew.
Islam Fessih, 19 and his friend Rafik Boutiche, 20, boarded the flight from Faro to London Stansted yesterday at around 3pm, after attending the Afro Nation Festival in Praia Da Rocha.
The last to board the plane, the pair said they noticed there were spare seats together.
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Islam told LADbible: "While we were waiting for cabin crew to sort everything out, we noticed there were seats in front of me free, so he sat in one so we could be near each other for the flight."
Islam claims that although many other passengers were doing the same to sit near their friends and family, they were singled out when a cabin crew member asked him his seat number and told him to move seats.
"Although there were other passengers sat on the three seats opposite," he continued. "The air hostess told us that he needed to move to balance the plane.
"He didn't want to but he ended up getting up to move, and when he got up, he walked past her because he's quite big and she was quite small he brushed past her. She then claimed that he had punched her, which he hadn't and rang the police straight away.
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"Even other people on the plane said he didn't punch her and that she was 'overreacting'."
Soon after, a number of police boarded the plane, and can be seen in the footage trying to remove Rafik from his seat.
Other passengers can be heard shouting at police, with one onlooker saying: "You're hurting him."
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When Islam started recording the commotion, he claims that Portuguese police took his phone before eventually giving it back to him. He shared the video on Twitter, receiving thousands of comments in just a few hours.
The pair say they were left with a string of injuries. Rafik claims he was left with a neck injury, a bleeding hand and a sprained ankle.
Islam continued: "I have bruises on my arm, I had a panic attack as I suffer with anxiety and even the organiser of the festival was on the flight and tried to calm them."
The pair left the plane and were taken to a police station within the airport, but say they were released without charge.
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They then had to book an extra night in a hotel, having re-booked their flight for today with another airline.
Islam says that after complaining to Ryanair about their treatment, the airline responded saying that he is banned form travelling with them due to 'disruptive behaviour'.
Islam said that Ryanair wrote in an email: "Please do not make any reservations for travel with Ryanair as once you log your personal details, our system will highlight your reservation and you will be denied travel without refund."
LADbible has reached out to Ryanair and Portuguese police for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Twitter/Islam Fessih