Six staffers from Britain’s largest bank, HSBC, have been fired after posting a mock ISIS-style execution video Tuesday, The Guardian reports.
After one of the employees posted the video to Instagram, the London tabloid The Sun reported the footage. Although quickly taken down, screen shots of the enactment quickly went viral.
The video, which was filmed during a team-building day, purportedly showed the workers wearing black balaclavas and facemasks surrounding a colleague clad as their “hostage” in an orange jumpsuit, kneeling at their feet with his head down.
Staged as a beheading scene, the five men dressed as members of ISIS broke out in laughter as they held the “hostage” by the shoulders. One of the employees wielded a coat hanger, apparently to mimic a fake knife. The words “Allahu Akbar” — meaning God is the greatest in Arabic — can be heard in the background.
Bankers sacked after filming mock IS execution of Asian worker. Watch the video FREE here: http://t.co/1yrm18P5Yf pic.twitter.com/kTeYv85yJ7
— The Sun (@TheSun) July 7, 2015
Once the video was intercepted and publicized, HSBC’s press office in London issued a statement calling it “abhorrent.” (RELATED: The True Story Behind The Shocking Side-By-Side Images Of An Ancient Syrian Amphitheater)
“We do not tolerate inappropriate behavior,” the statement read. The bank also tweeted about their decision to sack the individuals involved and apologized for any offense that the video could have caused.
ISIS has posted a series of horrid execution videos to social media, displaying the beheading of international hostages. The terrorist group has executed more than 3,000 in the last year, according to the AFP. (RELATED: Wal-Mart Store Apologizes For Baking ISIS Battle Flag Cake [VIDEO])