Bogota: Chaos erupted at El Dorado International Airport in Colombia's Bogota after a man slapped a woman for refusing to give him a seat at a terminal. The incident sparked a full-scale brawl between the man and other passengers at the terminal. The incident was recorded on camera, and the video started doing the rounds on social media.
The man has been identified as Hector Santacruz. In the video, it can be seen that Santacruz walks up to a woman, named Claudia Segura, at Gate 9 in El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, asking her to give up her seat. Notably, the man was demanding the seat as he wanted to sit next to his wife, Karen de Santacruz, reported The Daily Mail. The incident took place on Sunday night.
After Segura's refusal, a heated argument broke out between the two. In a fit of anger, Hector Santacruz slapped the woman. Seeing the man slapping, other passengers came to Segur's help. They pushed him back, and some even kicked and punched him.
Karen de Santacruz came in support of her husband and gave explanations for Hector Santacruz's behaviour.
Airport police came to the spot and took Hector Santacruz into custody. The man's wife gathered their belongings as he was escorted by an airport police officer, reported the media house.
Segura is reportedly a government contractor. She told El Tiempo newspaper that she was waiting for her flight to depart and was looking for a place to sit so that she could continue to work on her laptop.
"When I got to the waiting area, everything was completely full, and I only saw one empty chair,' she recalled. 'I didn't have any bags or clothes on me to indicate it was occupied, so I sat down." Segura told the newspaper. As per the woman, the man's wife told her that the seat was occupied. When the man came, he threatened her and then started hitting her.
Hector Santacruz's wife issued an apology on Wednesday.
