A couple has caused outrage after reportedly leaving their 10-year-old son alone at Barcelona Airport when they found out his passport had expired. An airport worker shared the story online, expressing disbelief at what happened.

The incident happened at El Prat International Airport on Wednesday, July 30. According to reports, the parents chose to board their flight without their son so they wouldn’t miss it.

The child was later found sitting alone in the terminal, waiting for a family member to come and get him. Airport staff became concerned and contacted the police.

An air traffic controller named Lilian posted a video about the event, which has been viewed more than 300,000 times. She strongly criticized the parents’ actions, calling the situation surreal.

She said the child was denied boarding because his passport had expired and he didn’t have a visa. Instead of staying behind with him, the parents arranged for a relative to collect him while they continued with their vacation plans.

When staff noticed the boy still waiting by himself, they alerted the authorities. The child reportedly told the police that his parents were already on the plane, flying to their home country.

The flight, which was moments from takeoff, was called back to the gate where police were waiting. The pilot is said to have asked if anyone had left a child behind in the terminal, but no one responded.

The couple was later located and taken to the airport police station where their son was waiting. It is still unclear if any charges were filed.

The air traffic controller who witnessed the event said, “I’ve seen a lot of strange things in this job, but this shocked me. As a mother, I can’t believe anyone would just leave their child like that because of passport issues. They called someone else to pick him up and simply got on the flight.”