Fight Breaks Out at Boarding Gate in Guangzhou Airport

By Matthew Bossons, September 5, 2017

A violent altercation broke out at a boarding gate in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport last Wednesday when two passengers got into an argument over queue jumping, according to a September 1 report by the Straits Times.

The fight erupted while travelers were lining up to board flight SQ851 from Guangzhou to Singapore and was first described by a citizen reporter who filmed the bout and sent it to Stomp, a Singapore-based citizen journalism webpage.

According to the amateur reporter, Cedric Teng, the fight broke out at roughly 12.30pm on August 30, when a man in a white shirt who slipped into line was confronted by a man in a green shirt (detailed descriptions, we know).

The man in the white shirt then hit the green-shirted male, and a melee of kicks, shoving, grappling and punches ensued.

And... in the green-shirted corner: this guy!

At one point in the video, the man in white falls to the ground and, as he gets up, is grabbed by another male in a blue shirt who appears to try to calm the white-shirted guy down.

Citizen Teng told the Straits Times that his attention was drawn to the brawl due to the yelling and boisterous arguing that was taking place.

"I was very shocked and surprised, as it was the first time I've seen this kind of incident at an airport," Teng told the Singapore-based publication. He added that the man in white insisted he should be the first in line, despite travelers with young children being asked to board first.

But, it turns out, there may be more to the story than was initially reported, with a follow-up piece by AsiaOne on September 4 claiming that the man in white punched a woman in the back before the fight captured on video broke out.

The unnamed woman, reportedly a passenger traveling with the green-shirted man in the footage, contacted AsiaOne to elaborate on the story – below is her statement:

"Before this, my two colleagues and I were all in the SIA lounge. We are all Singaporean business travellers. The old man was also there and one of my colleagues noticed him behaving rudely towards the staff.
"Later, we went to queue at the boarding gate. As I was still searching for my passport, my colleagues went ahead and got into line first.
"They saw the old man sitting on a chair at the side. He had already used his belongings to 'chope' [or reserve] the first spot in the line.
"Having noticed the old man's behaviour in the lounge earlier, my colleague pulled me away when I went to join them in the queue so that I would not be standing near the old man.
"That was when the old man in white punched me in my back and I fell forward. Fortunately, I did not fall onto the ground.
"Even though I was standing behind his belongings, he came to my face and started shouting at me, 'You stand in the back!'
"I asked him why he had to push me because he could have talked nicely. I asked him if this was the way to treat a woman and he started raising his hand, as if to hit me.
"My colleague, worried that the old man wanted to punch me, intervened and that was when the old man flew off the handle.
"He started threatening and warning us. He also went to my colleague and wanted to start a fight. My colleague did not want to engage in a fight with him, but the old man started kicking my colleague.
"This is what happened before the video was recorded.
"Although the airport staff helped to restrain the old man in white, I asked for the police to be called but nobody did anything.
"Eventually, the old man went right to the front of the queue and we all boarded the aircraft."

A spokesman for Singapore Airlines told the Straits Times that ground staff resolved the dispute with help from other passengers and that the flight was able to leave Guangzhou and arrive in Singapore without further incident.

Watch the fight on YouTube below (VPN on):