Australian Couple Forced to Sit Next to Deceased Passenger on Flight

An Australian couple has been left "heartbroken" after they were forced to sit next to the body of a passenger who died midway through their flight. Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were traveling on a Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Venice, Italy when a woman onboard “collapsed” and died, they said during an interview on the Australian news program A Current Affair.

"[It] was pretty heartbreaking to watch,” Ring said on A Current Affair. “They went to try and move her, they brought this chair down... and tried to wheel her up towards business class, but she was quite a large lady, and they couldn't get her through the aisle.”

The couple told the outlet that the flight crew members then placed the woman’s body in a vacant seat next to the pair.

“They said, 'Can you move over please?' and I just said, 'Yes, no problem,’ ” Ring recalled to A Current Affair. "Then they placed the lady in the chair I was in."

The couple claim that the cabin crew told them they must remain in their seats next to the body for the four hours left of the flight.

"There were a few spare seats I could see around us. I can't believe they told us to stay … it wasn't nice,” continued Ring.

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The couple say that they have not received any duty of care or the offer of counseling following the flight.

“They have a duty of care towards their customers as well as their staff, we should be contacted to make sure, do you need some support, do you need some counseling," Ring told A Current Affair. "I don't really know how I feel and would like to speak to somebody to make sure I'm alright."

Speaking to the program from their vacation in Venice, Colin said, "I'm trying to make the best of a pretty hard situation, but, you know, we're on holiday so we're really trying to have a good time.”

The couple booked their flight through Australian airline Qantas, they noted on A Current Affair. A Qantas spokesperson told PEOPLE: “The process for handling incidents onboard an aircraft like this is managed by the operating airline, which in this case is Qatar Airways.”

The company said that “Colin made us aware of the incident on a Qatar Airways flight via email on Saturday afternoon [Feb. 22]." They added that they are in touch with the couple and have followed up with Qatar Airways.

In a statement, a Qatar Airways spokesperson told multiple outlets including news.com.au, “First and foremost our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight."

“We apologize for any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused, and are in the process of contacting passengers in line with our policies and procedures.”

Qatar Airways did not immediately reply to PEOPLE when asked for comment.