As thousands of Afghans who thronged Kabul airport yesterday, over 600 of them managed to fly out in a US Air Force transport plane at the last minute. A photos of the a Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster III shows hundreds of Afghans sitting on the floor of the aircraft.
The viral photo shows women and children without any luggage were seen fleeing from the Taliban, NDTV reported.
According to the news website Defense One, the transport aircraft took a total of 640 Afghans, believed to be among the most people ever flown in the C-17. The aircraft flew to Qatar, where the Afghans disembarked, the report added.
Two Apache attack helicopters were also seen in visuals flying low over the tarmac to disperse the crowd and clear the runway for the C-17’s take-off run.
On Monday, visuals that could become some of the defining images of the fall of Kabul, Afghans desperate to escape the Taliban takeover clung to the side of a departing U.S. military jet as it rolled down the tarmac Monday. Some of them apparently fell to their death as the aircraft gained altitude, Associated Press reported.
Thousands of Afghans rushed into Kabul’s main airport Monday, some so desperate to escape the Taliban that they held onto a military jet as it took off and plunged to their deaths. At least seven people died in the chaos, U.S. officials said, as America’s longest war ended with its enemy the victor.
Scores of people ran alongside the giant U.S. Air Force plane at the Kabul airport, and some managed to get a foothold before it took off.
U.S. troops took positions to guard the active runway, but the crowd stormed past them and their armored vehicles. Gunshots rang out. As one U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III tried to take off, a helicopter did low runs in front of it to try to drive people off the runway.
U.S. authorities said that all told, at least seven people died during the chaotic evacuation at the airport, including several who fell from a military jet.
Video apparently of the same aircraft from a distance showed people watching as one or more objects plummeted to the ground. People could be heard saying, “Look, one fell” and then, “Ohhh, another also fell.”
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