Scenes of chaos are unfolding in Kabul and thousands of people are attempting to flee the capital as the city is overthrown by the Taliban. The Taliban swept into the capital on Sunday after the Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country after two decades.
As the situation continues to deteriorate in Kabul, citizens are trying to evacuate by climbing on board C-17 cargo jets. Now, chilling video footage has emerged of people falling out of C-17 planes shortly after take-off from Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport.
A series of videos, shared on Twitter, show people falling off the aircraft shortly after departure from the Kabul airport.
Afghans fall off a C-17 taking off from Kabul. pic.twitter.com/PDDJeFx37b
— Ian Miles Cheong @ stillgray.substack.com (@stillgray) August 16, 2021
Desperate Afghans clinging to a USAF C-17 as it’s taking off fall to their deaths. pic.twitter.com/FYSopteQbg
— Ian Miles Cheong @ stillgray.substack.com (@stillgray) August 16, 2021
Local news outlet Asvaka News Agency confirmed that three young men who were holding on to the tires of the airplane fell to their death during the plane's take off and fell on top of people's houses near the airport. Locals said the fall of the stowaways made a "loud and terrifying noise."
BREAKING NEWS - Locals near Kabul airport claim that three young men who were holding themselves tightly in the tires of an airplane fell on top of people's houses. One of the locals confirmed this and said that the fall of these people made a loud and terrifying noise. pic.twitter.com/BtIovAhoDL
— AÅ›vaka - آسواکا News Agency (@AsvakaNews) August 16, 2021
People Seen Clinging onto Plane's Landing Gear Before Take-Off
Shortly before take-off, additional footage showed more than a dozen Afghani civilians clinging on to the U.S. Air Force plane's landing gear in a desperate attempt to leave the country as hundreds of others ran alongside the aircraft on the runway.
Insane. Don’t have any other words.
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) August 16, 2021
The Kabul Airport.
pic.twitter.com/ylraJsDyme
On Sunday, video footage that was being circulated on social media showed a mob of people crowding together to board the C-17 aircrafts at the Kabul airport.
Scenes from #Kabul Airport, #Afghanistan showing people boarding what appears to a C17 (please correct me if wrong) and what appears to be gunfire in the air in the distance. pic.twitter.com/p3l7zrVu77
— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) August 15, 2021
Scenes from the airport this morning showed passengers clinging to the jet bridge of a plane as they tried to get on board the aircraft.
This is, perhaps, one of the saddest images I've seen from #Afghanistan. A people who are desperate and abandoned. No aid agencies, no UN, no government. Nothing. pic.twitter.com/LCeDEOR3lR
— Nicola Careem (@NicolaCareem) August 16, 2021
There were also reports of gunfire at the airport. US troops fired several warning shots in an attempt to disperse the crowd as thousands of Afghans took over the tarmac and tried to forcibly enter planes leaving the Afghani capital, as previously reported.
According to Reuters, five people were killed during the chaos at the airport. However, it is not yet clear whether the casualties took place as a result of the gunfire or in a stampede caused by the gunshots.
