A British Airways pilot was reportedly kidnapped and tortured after being targeted outside a supermarket during a stopover between flights in South Africa.
The male officer was bundled inside a car by a group of men after a woman had asked him to help her carry bags to her vehicle in Johannesburg.
BA said: ‘A crew member was abducted outside Checkers Bluebird supermarket just north of the Melrose Arch complex.’
British Airways stops staff from going to areas of Johannesburg but the crew hotel in Melrose Arch is supposed to be the safest part of the city.
The pilot, who has not been named, was driven to a remote area of the city and ‘badly roughed up,’ The Sun reported.
He is alleged to have handed the thugs thousands of pounds and as was deemed unfit to fly the plane back to London, was replaced on the flight.
He has been off work since the ‘kidnapping’ and has the support of his colleagues.
A source told The Sun the ordeal was ‘staggering’ and ‘like something out of the movies’.
They said: ‘He endured hours of torture and physical assaults.
‘It only ended when he was left penniless.’