A man has died after coughing up “litres of blood” on board a plane from Bangkok to Munich, passengers have said.

The German national, said to be aged 63, looked ill as soon as he and his wife boarded the Lufthansa flight on Thursday, according to witnesses.

The man was sweating heavily and appeared to be struggling to breathe – but his partner told the crew he was safe to fly and tired after running to catch the flight, reports claim.

Passenger Martin Missfelder said the man’s condition rapidly deteriorated soon after take-off and he began spitting blood into a bag – before it began gushing out of his mouth and nose.

He told Swiss news outlet Blick: “It was absolute horror, everyone was screaming.”

Mr Missfelder said the man lost “litres of blood” and the walls of the plane were splattered.

Flight attendants spent around 30 minutes trying to resuscitate the man before he was declared dead.

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The Airbus A380 plane then turned around and returned to Thailand‘s capital after just an hour-and-a-half into the 12-hour journey.

Mr Missfelder told Blick there was “chaos” when the plane landed.

He added the worst thing was seeing the wife of the dead man going through customs all alone while “enduring all the formalities”.

A spokesperson for Lufthansa told MailOnline: “Although immediate and comprehensive first aid measures were taken by the crew and a doctor on board, the passenger died during the flight.

“Our thoughts are with the relatives of the deceased passenger. We also regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers of this flight.”

The airline added that all affected passengers were booked onto alternative flights for the journey home.

Sky News has contacted Lufthansa for comment.

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