Ryanair flight diverted to Portugal after mid-air brawl; police drag man off plane. VIDEO

In a shocking turn of events, a Ryanair flight traveling from the UK to Spain had to make an emergency landing due to a violent altercation among passengers. The incident occurred en route to the Canary Islands, prompting the aircraft to divert to Portugal.

The flight, which departed from London Luton airport on January 19 at 8 am, was originally destined for Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain, with an expected arrival time of 12.15 pm local time on the same day. However, instead of reaching its intended destination, the flight was rerouted to Faro, in Portugal's Algarve region, touching down at approximately 10.50 am local time.

Brawl involving passengers

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According to reports from The Mirror, a group of seven passengers engaged in a brawl during the flight, leading to the emergency landing. As per information from a source close to Portugal police, one individual has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Watch the video here:

A fellow passenger, who captured the entire incident on video, revealed that the disruptive group, seemingly intoxicated, was harassing female passengers on the flight. When a flight steward attempted to intervene, the situation escalated, resulting in the steward being knocked unconscious. In response to this unacceptable behavior, the captain issued a warning over the intercom.

Despite the captain's warning, the disruptive behaviour persisted for about 20 minutes. The passenger noted that the group paid no heed to the warnings, prompting the captain to take decisive action.

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With the disturbance showing no signs of abating, the captain made the decision to divert the flight to Portugal. Within 20 minutes of the captain's warning, the aircraft touched down in Faro. The passenger recounted that, post-landing, one of the brawlers voluntarily exited the plane but later re-entered, leading to police intervention and the forcible removal of several peopleinvolved in the altercation.

(With inputs from agencies)