By admin 
Sydney: An Australian couple has expressed outrage after being seated next to a deceased passenger on a Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Doha.
Mitchell Ring recounted the unsettling experience, explaining that a fellow passenger passed away mid-flight during the 14-hour journey last week. Airline staff attempted to move the body to business class but were unable to due to the passenger’s size.
“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,” Ring told Australia’s Nine News. “They looked a bit frustrated, then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me.”
As a result, Ring and his wife, Jennifer Colin, found themselves seated next to the covered body for hours, even after the flight had landed.
Emergency responders arrived after landing, removing the blankets from the deceased passenger. “It wasn’t nice,” Ring said.
Colin, who described herself as a nervous flyer, said the situation was deeply distressing. “There has to be a protocol that looks after the customers on board,” she stated.
Ring revealed that he remained next to the corpse for approximately four hours, despite seeing other available seats nearby. “They said, ‘Can you move over, please?’ and I just said, ‘Yes, no problem.’ Then they placed the lady in the chair I was in,” he explained.
In response, Qatar Airways issued a statement apologizing for any distress caused. “First and foremost, our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight,” the airline said.
Gill Bikram Singh