Video: Turbulence in Spanish flight throws man into overhead bin, 30 injured

An Air Europa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight was hit by strong turbulence and made an emergency landing in Brazil, injuring 30 people on Monday. The turbulence was so strong that passengers were thrown out of their seats, with one man stuck in an overhead compartment.

The mid-air incident occurred when the flight was on it way to Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, from Madrid in Spain, the Spanish airline said. Flight UX045 was diverted to Natal airport in northeast Brazil after turbulence, according to the airline, The New York Post reported.

Passengers posted videos of the damage and aftermath caused due to the turbulence, with one video showing a man's feet poking out of the overhead bin after he was believed to have been thrown up there. Some people were seen huddling together to pull him down while a baby was heard crying in the background.

Other clips showed ceiling panels torn off, a destroyed seat and oxygen masks dangling overhead due to the impact of the turbulence in the flight that was carrying 325 passengers.

In a statement, Air Europa said the flight landed without any issues and people were being treated for injuries "of varying degrees".

"The plane has landed normally and the injuries of varying degrees that were recorded are already being treated," the airline said.

A passenger, Norys, said he was relaxing and enjoying his flight back home from a European tour when the captain announced a turbulence warning and asked passengers to fasten their seatbelts and remain seated, The New York Post reported.

"A long time after that, there was a very, very slight turbulence, it was barely felt, and from one moment to the next the plane abruptly fell and we all went up," Norys told Uruguayan outlet El Observador.

"Those who did not have seatbelts flew and some remained hooked to the roof," he added.

According to Uruguay's Foreign Ministry, the injured were being treated at Monsenhor Walfredo Gurgel Hospital in Natal and transportation was being ready for them to return to Montevideo.

Air Europa said a new flight will leave Madrid to pick up passengers who did not choose to take a bus ride back to Uruguay, The New York Post reported.

Voicing similar sentiments, another passenger, Juan, compared the mid-air incident to "something out of a horror movie" and said it was a near-death experience.

"The sensation was one of terror, the feeling that you are falling and that it does not end. And you are aware that you are falling at an incalculable speed. And you felt that it ended there, that you died," he told El Observador.