Hungarian camera operator apologises for kicking refugees

A Hungarian camera operator who was filmed kicking two refugee children and tripping up a man at the border of Roszke has apologised, saying "something snapped in me" and she cannot believe her actions.

In a letter to the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, Petra Laszlo said she had been in a state of shock since the incident on Tuesday near the Hungarian-Serbian border, but denied accusations of racism, The Guardian reported on Friday.

"The camera was rolling, hundreds of migrants broke through the police cordon, one of them rushed to me and I was scared," she wrote.

"Then something snapped in me, I just thought that I was attacked and I have to protect myself. It's hard to make good decisions at a time when people are in a panic."

Laszlo added that she was willing to take responsibility for her actions, but went on to say, "I'm not a heartless, racist, children-kicking camerawoman. I do not deserve the political witch-hunts against me, nor the smears or the death threats.

"I'm just an unemployed mother of small children, who made a bad decision. I am truly sorry."

Laszlo was fired by Hungarian television channel N1TV after a video of the incident was posted on Twitter by Stephan Richter, a reporter for the German television channel RTL.

N1TV said her behaviour was "unacceptable" and her job had been terminated "with immediate effect".