Video shows 'racist' Airbnb host push female South African filmmaker down stairs in checkout row

An Airbnb host in Amsterdam has been arrested after video footage appeared to show him push a female tenant head-first down a flight of stairs.

The woman, South African filmmaker Sibahle Nkumbi, can be seen at the end of the clip lying motionless on the floor as her screaming friends gather around her.

The incident on Saturday (8 July) was said to have occurred after the landlord became angry the group of four staying at the property were late checking out.

The tourists were supposed to leave at 11am but were still in the property at 12.30pm, local media reported.

They had been in the Dutch capital to attend an exhibition by South African photographer Zanele Muholi, who shared a video of the incident on her Instagram page.

"Am so angry with this I couldn't even sleep. This is racism and can't be justified... violence on black bodies as you can see in this video," she wrote.

Nkumbi, who shared a video of the altercation on Facebook, also claimed the attack was racist.

Police are still investigating the incident and have yet to decide on a charge.

At the start of the clip the landlord can be seen taking what appears to be the group's personal possessions out of the apartment while repeatedly telling them to leave.

As she stands on the landing, Nkumbi can be heard saying to the man, "don't be emotional" before he then appears to try and make her move down the stairs.

She grabs on to the wall as he continues to push her; she then loses her grip and tumbles head first down the steep set of stairs.

Nkumbi can be seen lying motionless on the ground as the landlord rushes down. He shouts for someone to call an ambulance as her friends scream in the background.

The victim later said she was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital. She has now been discharged.

"I passed out, woke up in hospital. People are panicking, people are crying, I'm in pain," she said in an interview with journalist Kevin Roberson.

She said the group had apologised to the landlord's wife for going over checkout time, but that she then returned with her irate husband.

"This guy was extremely emotional. I tried to ask him why are you being so emotional?" Nkumbi said.

He claimed the landlord became "verbally abusive" and told her "you're not the great artists that you think you are ... this is not Africa".

"The way he grabbed me, I knew that he was going to throw me down there. Eventually I lost grip of the wall ... and that's when I flew down."

Local media reported that a 47-year-old man had been arrested over the incident.

Airbnb condemned the actions of the landlord and said the company's CEO, Brian Chesky, would contact the victim personally.

"Appalling and unconscionable behaviour against members of our community runs counter to everything Airbnb stands for," David King, an Airbnb official, said.

"We will take the strongest actions we can against such abhorrent conduct, including banning people for life from our platform and assisting law enforcement with their investigation and potential prosecution.

"Nobody should ever be treated like this and it will not be tolerated."