LONDON (AP) — A British model who was allegedly abducted in Italy says she understands why people may doubt her story, but insists she was certain she would die during the terrifying ordeal.

Chloe Ayling says she was lured to Milan for a fake photo shoot, then drugged, stuffed into a suitcase and held by criminals who threatened to auction her on the dark web.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, 20-year-old Ayling said "I was terrified beyond words. ... I thought, 'I'm not going to get out of here alive.'"

Ayling says she was told she would be killed if she tried to flee.

She was freed after six days when a captor took her to the British consulate. Italian police have arrested a 30-year-old Polish man, Lukasz Herba.