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Video of passenger dragged off overbooked flight sparks social media storm

A viral video of police officers dragging a passenger from an overbooked United Airlines flight sparked an uproar on social media.

Footage from the incident in which a Chinese-American passenger was dragged from his seat and quickly went viral with outrage extending even to China.

The airline said it had asked for volunteers to give up their seats, and police were called in after one passenger refused to leave the plane.

The video posted online showed three Chicago Department of Aviation police officers struggling with a seated middle-aged man.

He starts to scream as he is dragged off while other passengers look on — some recording the event with their phones.

One passenger can be heard yelling, “Oh my God, look at what you did to him!”

The showdown quickly ignited social media outrage, with “United” becoming a trending term on Twitter, Facebook and Google.

Passenger Audra D. Bridges posted the video on Facebook. Her husband, Tyler Bridges, said United offered $400 and then $800 vouchers and a hotel stay for volunteers to give up their seats. When no one volunteered, a United manager came on the plane and announced that passengers would be chosen at random.

“We almost felt like we were being taken hostage,” Tyler Bridges said. “We were stuck there. You can’t do anything as a traveler. You’re relying on the airline.”

Oscar Muñoz, CEO of United Airlines’ parent company, apologized first in a written statement and then in a letter to employees Monday evening.

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