Three stowaways are reported to have fallen to have fallen to their deaths from one airborne plane and a further five people have been killed at Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans try desperately to get on flights out of the country amid increasingly chaotic scenes.
US troops fired shots in the air at Hamad Karzai airport to prevent hundreds of civilians running onto the tarmac after they took over Afghanistan’s air traffic control. Witnesses said it was not clear whether the victims were killed by gunshots or in a stampede.
Footage published by Aśvaka showed three stowaways falling to the deaths after clinging on to the wheels of a military plane as it took off from Kabul airport.
Panicked Afghans were also seen climbing up the outside of an airbridge in a bid to get onboard planes and chasing a US military C-17 down the runway. Video also showed hundreds of people running alongside – and in front of – a US Air Force plane preparing to take off.
All commercial services have been suspended, with only military flights leaving the country as the UK, US and other western countries repatriate their citizens. It comes as 60 countries issued a joint plea to the Taliban to allow civilians to flee.
