Afghans Fall from U.S. Military Plane After Clinging to Aircraft in Shocking Video
Three young men have reportedly fallen mid-air from a plane leaving Kabul after allegedly losing grip of the exterior of the aircraft, alarming footage appears to show.
In a video uploaded by the Afghan Asvaka News agency and seemingly taken from the ground, two unidentifiable objects can be seen falling from the body of a plane as it flies overhead.
"The video shows a flight from Kabul airport where two people are thrown from a plane into the people's homes," the agency said alongside the 11-second clip which has since garnered more than one million views.
The Afghan men were hanging to the tires of a C-17 U.S. military aircraft, the publication reported.
Exclusive- A clear video (from other angle) of men falling from C-17. They were Clinging to some parts of the plane that took off from Kabul airport today. #Talibans #Afghanistan #Afghanishtan pic.twitter.com/CMNW5ngqrK
— Aśvaka - آسواکا News Agency (@AsvakaNews) August 16, 2021
Warning-Graphic
— Aśvaka - آسواکا News Agency (@AsvakaNews) August 16, 2021
Locals while collecting the bodies of three men Clinging to the wheels of the plane that took off from #Kabul airport, they were then fell to the ground near Khairkahana area of Kabul#Afghanistan #Taliban pic.twitter.com/N14U55CZmj
"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," the outlet said in a tweet Monday. "One of the locals confirmed this and said that the fall of these people made a loud and terrifying noise."
Another video shared by the agency appears to show locals attending to the bodies of the men after falling to the ground near the Khairkahana area of Kabul.
"Locals while collecting the bodies of three men clinging to the wheels of the plane that took off from Kabul airport, they were then fell to the ground near Khairkahana area of Kabul," the agency said.
Other similar clips show Afghan civilians desperately clinging to aircraft and crowding air bridges in an attempt to catch a flight out of the country.
Not a scene of Hollywood, it’s Just #Kabul air port, people want to run away, after the Capture of Kabul by the #Talibans #Afghanistan
— Aśvaka - آسواکا News Agency (@AsvakaNews) August 16, 2021
By: @Mukhtarwafayee pic.twitter.com/ZLYieJm9mX
People taking the Dead-bodies of the same men who fell from a plane C-17 near #Kabul airport.#Afghanistan #Kabul #Taliban pic.twitter.com/hHfm3ATimh
— Aśvaka - آسواکا News Agency (@AsvakaNews) August 16, 2021
One video shared by journalist Sultan Faizy shows hundreds of people scrambling over the top of one another in an attempt to climb the air bridge.
"Desperate situation unfolding at Kabul airport this morning," journalist Ahmer Khan tweeted. "Thousands of Afghans are at Kabul airport. They are running after moving aircrafts," he later added.
Another shows hundreds of Afghans running alongside the body of a U.S. aircraft as it taxis along the runway and prepares to take flight. A handful of men appear to crouch under the wing while appearing to hold on to the side of the aircraft.
"Desperate Afghans are hanging on the plane tires and falling from the sky near the Kabul airport," Middle East Eye reporter Ragıp Soylu tweeted.
Earlier on Monday, five people were reported to have been killed amid chaotic and violent scenes at Kabul airport as the Taliban takes control of the Afghan capital.
One witness told Reuters he saw the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle, while another witness said it was not clear whether the victims were killed by gunshots or in a stampede.
Following the withdrawal of the U.S. and its allies, the Taliban has seized control of nearly the entire nation in just over one week.
Militants entered the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday and Taliban fighters have been patrolling the city streets ever since.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has taken over the security of the Kabul airport in order to control the evacuation of foreign diplomats and citizens. Earlier, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price confirmed that the evacuation of American embassy employees to the Kabul Airport had been completed.
Update 8/16/21 6.45 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with more information.
Catastrophic: Three people thrown out from a plane. Kabul residents confirm to me. pic.twitter.com/0Wg3gEkCNw
— Muslim Shirzad (@MuslimShirzad) August 16, 2021
Afghanistan’s Tragedy: Kabul Airport pic.twitter.com/P9E74ADURv
— Muslim Shirzad (@MuslimShirzad) August 16, 2021
Insane. Don’t have any other words.
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) August 16, 2021
The Kabul Airport.
pic.twitter.com/ylraJsDyme
Afghanistan’s tragedy right now in Kabul international airport: Afghan youth on the engine of American plane to leave the country. pic.twitter.com/CoTS8sq9c3
— Muslim Shirzad (@MuslimShirzad) August 16, 2021
