ROANOKE, Va. (WKRC) — A family has filed a lawsuit against two airlines after alleging they were seated in “infested” seats during an international flight.
According to Fox News, a Virginia family claims they were bitten by bedbugs during a transatlantic flight to Amsterdam on March 21.
The report states that the family — Romulo Albuquerque; his wife, Lisandra Garcia; and their children, Benicio and Lorenzo Albuquerque — boarded a Delta flight to Atlanta on March 21, then a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight to Amsterdam, followed by another flight to Belgrade, Serbia, where they had planned to visit friends and family.
The lawsuit states that Albuquerque purchased the tickets using Delta SkyMiles, according to the outlet.
During the trip, however, the family “developed raised and itchy welts, lesions, and rashes across their torsos and extremities, which ruined their family vacation and caused humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety, discomfort, inconvenience, medical expenses, and the loss of clothing and personal items,” the lawsuit states, according to Fox News.
According to Fox, approximately two hours into the flight to Amsterdam, Garcia felt bugs crawling on and biting her. Garcia and Albuquerque told a flight attendant, who allegedly instructed them to keep their voices down to avoid “panic” on the flight.
The lawsuit reviewed by Fox states that the bugs bit the family repeatedly throughout the flight.
“Prior to landing in Amsterdam, the flight attendants again urged Dr. Albuquerque and Mrs. Garcia not to tell anyone about the infestation because, if they did so, they would miss their connecting flight to Serbia,” the lawsuit states, according to Fox.
Images obtained by The New York Post show what appear to be bug bites. The lawsuit also contains photos and videos that reportedly show bugs crawling on Garcia’s sweater and “in the creases” of their seats, according to the Post.
The family said they washed their clothes in boiling water upon arriving at their destination, according to the complaint reviewed by Fox.
“As this pending litigation states, the allegations at issue relate to flights not operated by Delta Air Lines. Delta will review the complaint and respond accordingly in due course,” the company said in a statement to Fox News. A spokeswoman for KLM told The Independent that the airline was “unable to comment on the specific allegations at this time.”
The family is seeking $200,000 in compensation for the alleged experience, according to the network.
