Videos have gone viral on the internet that show Afghans hanging on to the tyres of flights leaving the country from the Kabul Airport and then falling off from the sky after take-off. The harrowing visuals have been shared by journalist on Twitter and other platforms.
Oh my God.
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) August 16, 2021
Desperate Afghans are hanging on the plane tires and falling from the sky near the Kabul airport pic.twitter.com/OhIscfDNWd
Ragip Soylu, the Turkish bureau chief for Middle East Eye, also shared a video that showed some Afghan youths hanging on to the engines of the flight before take-off from the airport.
Here in this video you see some of the Afghan youth hanging on the American airplane’s engines before take off in the Kabul airport pic.twitter.com/msb8UbZO9D
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) August 16, 2021
Locals have reportedly confirmed that the Afghans fell on top of houses with a devastating crash. They say that the fall made a terrifying noise when the body hit the roofs.
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
— Aśvaka – آسواکا News Agency (@AsvakaNews) August 16, 2021
Here are some more terrifying visuals of Afghan people hanging on to aircraft leaving Kabul airport.
Kabul moment! pic.twitter.com/nj5WKiH9dM
— Lotfullah Najafizada (@LNajafizada) August 16, 2021
Chaotic scenes were observed at the Kabul Airport after Taliban managed to capture the capital of Afghanistan. Chaos erupted at the airport with over-crowding of citizens and non-existent security. Passengers were also seen waiting at the tarmac of the airport in long queues in the hopes of leaving the country at the earliest.
On the morning of 16 August, the situation at Kabul International Airport looked worse. Hundreds of people were seen hurrying along on a rather empty tarmac, falling over themselves to board a plane.