Delta Air Lines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have been sued in a rather odd case of negligence, with a family from Virginia seeking at least $200,000 in damages for an alleged bed bug infestation.
According to a report by nbc newsthe family, from Roanoke, Virginia, alleged that they had been “bitten and injured by bed bugs that had infested the cabin” of a flight they had taken earlier this year.
The plaintiffs, Romulo Albuquerque, his wife, Lisandra Garcia and their two children, had taken connecting flights from the US to Serbia in March this year, where they had planned to visit family and friends.
As per the lawsuit, the family boarded a Delta flight from Roanoke to Atlanta, following which they caught a KLM flight to Amsterdam, and then to Belgrade. While the two European flights were operated by KLM, the tickets had been purchased via Delta’s SkyMiles program, NBC reported citing the lawsuit.
The four tickets were reportedly worth $8,800 at the time of purchase.
The bed bug infestation was detected by the family approximately two hours into their flight to Amsterdam, as per the lawsuit, when Garcia got the feeling that bugs were crawling on her and that she was being bitten.
“It was at this point that she realized that bugs were crawling on her light-colored sweater,” NBC quoted the lawsuit as saying.
In their lawsuit, the family alleged that their vacation was ruined and that the “raised and itchy welts, lesions, and rashes” caused by the bed bug bites caused “humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety, discomfort, inconvenience, medical expenses, and loss of clothing and personal items”.
As part of the legal filings, the family also submitted close up photos of said injuries caused by bed bugs, as well as a photo of Garcia’s jacket and a napkin covered in bed bugs from the KLM flight.
Their attorneys also said that the family took photos and videos that showed bugs crawling on Garcia’s sweater and moving around in the “creases” of their aircraft seats.
Business Insiderciting the lawsuit, also reported that the family had been urged by KLM flight attendants to not tell anyone about the bug infestation — the family had reportedly been warned that they would miss their flight to Belgrade from Amsterdam if they did so.
What have Delta and KLM said?
Delta and KLM did not respond to nbc news‘ Request for comment.
However, in a statement to PEOPLEDelta Air Lines said that 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 carrier added.
KLM, meanwhile, told The Independent that it was “unable to comment on the specific allegations”, but added that it would address the lawsuit through “the appropriate legal channels”.
