A Donegal holidaymaker and his fiance have told of being kidnapped on their holiday from hell.
Michael Gallagher and his newly-engaged fiance, booked their getaway to Portugal to celebrate their engagement.
But a run-in with vicious thugs in tourist hotspot Albufeira meant relaxing was the last thing they could do.
Speaking to Joe Duffy on Liveline yesterday, Michael told of the horrifying series of events that lead to the couple forking over around €600 to their kidnappers.
He said: “We arrived in Portugal last Friday, the 4th of January. We booked the holiday to celebrate our engagement.
“On Sunday night, we were walking up the strip and we were taken into the car for over an hour.
“We saw them at a bakery. They came out of it while we were passing and they pulled a gun on us. They threatened to sell my fiance into the sex trade and said they were going to shoot me.
“They brought the gun to shoot me and the driver of the car had to punch the guy with the gun to get him to not shoot me.”
The thugs then took the couple to a secluded laneway where they threatened them and took the money they had with them.
Brave Michael also told of their escape when his partner went to the ATM to get money out.
“My partner said we’ll go to the bank and get them more money.
“When my partner got out of the car to get the money, she asked me to help her. I got out too and then we made a run for it into a bar.
“We were lucky to get away. We haven’t had a holiday at all. We’ve spent the last five days in hospitals and police stations.”
The shaken-up Donegal man also told Joe about how the Portugese police are watching the group and plan to tackle them in the coming days. They have loads of evidence and they know who did it.
“Basically ten undercover police officers have them under surveillance and if they catch them again, they’re going to shoot to kill.”
Portuguese police are taking the incident “very seriously” and have two teams working on the investigation, RTE reported.
An AIG spokesperson told us: “AIG sympathises with the situation this couple found themselves in and has been in regular contact with the couple since the incident to offer its support.”
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