hungary refugee
A Hungarian camerawoman, who was fired for kicking refugees fleeing police, has apologized for her actions. In this photo, refugees wait to board a bus after crossing the border from Hungary to Austria in Nickelsdorf on Sept 10, 2015. Reuters/Leonhard Foege

A Hungarian camerawoman who was filmed tripping and kicking refugees as they fled from the police apologized for her actions Friday.

Petra László, a former camerawoman for N1TV, said that “something snapped” in her and she kicked out at the refugees in fear as they ran toward her.

“The camera was shooting, hundreds of migrants broke through the police cordon, one of them rushed to me and I was scared,” she said in a letter to Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, cited by ITV. “I'm not a heartless, racist children kicking camerawoman. I do not deserve it nor the political witch hunts against me, nor the smear, the many death threats.

I'm just a woman, since then, an unemployed mother of small children, who brought a panic situation, a bad decision. I am truly sorry.”

László was fired by N1TV after a video of the incident was posted online.

Meanwhile, Hungarian prosecutors said that they had opened a criminal case against László for breach of peace. Sandor Toro, deputy chief prosecutor for Csongrad county, said: “In the course of the investigation, the authorities will also examine if more serious crimes … can be established,” the Guardian reported.

Aniko Bakonyi, of human rights watchdog Hungarian Helsinki Committee, called the footage “shocking.”

“You’re part of a news agency. With your hand you’re shooting and with your leg you’re hurting someone else," he said.

The incident was filmed Tuesday at the Hungarian town of Röszke, near the Hungarian-Serbian border, when hundreds of refugees broke through a police line and fled authorities.

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