July 12 (UPI) — An Airbnb host in Amsterdam has been arrested after he pushed his guest down the stairs in an incident that was caught on video.
In the video seen below, a Dutchman is seen pushing the a young woman down the stairs, screaming in English, “Out!” When he pushes her down, the woman rapidly slides down the steps, head-first. The man runs down the steps, lifts her up, and continues to yell at her to get out.
The man has not been named by police. But a police spokesman told Dutch News that the incident “was related to a man and woman and argument about the check-out time of an Airbnb rental. The man is now free.”
Police said they are continuing to investigate the incident.
The woman in the video is Sibalhe Nkumbi, a South African filmmaker and student in Europe was in town to visit an art exhibit of her friend photographer Zanele Muholi, who posted the video to Instagram. She posted a video on Youtube explaining the situation and believes the attack was racially-motivated.
Nkumbi said she and her friend were running late to check-out and apologized to the woman host, who was seemed angry about the inconvenience and left. The woman host returned with her male companion, who Nkumbi said showed extreme anger when he arrived.
Nkumbi said the man told her: “You need to leave now. This is not Africa.”
“As I was gripping against the wall he’s trying to get me to his position and eventually I lost my grip and that’s when I flew down,” she said.
“I don’t remember how it happened,” she added. “I woke up in hospital, in pain. And then I got the video of the story. Everyone was freaking out, the police came to question me.”
Airbnb’s Director of Diversity and Belonging David King said told The Independent that they’re reaching out to the guests.
“We will take the strongest actions we can against such abhorrent conduct, including banning people for life from our platform and assisting law enforcement with their investigation and potential prosecution,” he said.