Amal Said drifted off after she went through passport control and thought the driver would wake her when the bus was on the ferry. The 20-year-old was surprised to wake up sometime later on the Flixbus
A diabetic student woke up locked inside a FlixBus below-deck on a ferry, prompting her to send goodbye messages to her family.
Amal Said set off from London to visit family in Paris on a FlixBus on August 10 and quickly nodded off. The 20-year-old said she drifted off after she went through passport control and thought the driver would wake her when the bus was on the ferry.
Amal was horrified when she woke up on an empty bus on the fifth deck of the boat half an hour after it had sailed, she claimed. Footage online, which has more than two million views, shows Amal screaming and crying as she discovers she is alone on the bus.
Amal, who has Type 1 Diabetes, claimed she feared for her life as she had no food inside the bus and her blood sugar level was dropping. The student sent videos to her family saying she loves them.
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After an hour and a half, Amal said she was spotted by a crew member who alerted the driver to let her out of the bus. The hospitality worker claims the driver accused her of being to blame for being locked in due to falling asleep.
Amal formally complained to FlixBus on August 11, requesting a refund and compensation for the emotional distress. Emails appear to show how her request was declined as she had ‘completed her journey’.
Amal, from Richmond, South West London, said: “My family lives in Paris and I really missed them so I booked to see them. I was really excited. I am Type 1 Diabetic and I got a Starbucks drink, but I didn’t think I needed food.
“We went inside the ferry and I was clearly asleep. The protocol is we go in, everyone gets counted, everybody has to leave and they lock the doors. You go inside, they do a headcount and everyone needs to leave. There’s a whole bunch of people leaving their cars and no one is allowed to stay at the deck.
“I woke up sweating, I heard my watch beep, which meant my sugar was low. I had a gel but needed something with carbs or sugar and I didn’t have that. I was panicking because I was scared, I thought if I die on this FlixBus it won’t be a good thing.
“I recorded videos for proof, sent videos to my family saying I love you. I was hyperventilating and I was full of sweat. I was panicking, crying, I genuinely thought I was going to die. I almost passed out, I fell on the floor. I saw someone, a staff member and I was banging on the FlixBus window and he looked very surprised.”
“I could have easily stolen people’s things if I was a bad person, that puts everyone at risk. He said what I did was wrong, he asked where my driver is, I said they all left me. He went on the lift, went upstairs and came back with the driver.
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A spokesperson from FlixBus said: “We regret that a passenger remained on board a service during a ferry crossing. The driver made the standard announcement to disembark, carried out a check of the vehicle before leaving, and apologised to the passenger after discovering she was still on board.
“We are working closely with our operating partner to ensure additional measures are in place to prevent this from happening again. We have been in contact with the passenger to apologise and provide a full refund.”