Desperation Of 640 Afghans Trying To Escape Taliban In US Plane Captured In Viral Photo
A US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III evacuated around 640 Afghans from Kabul on Sunday 15th August, according to U.S. defense officials.
The now viral photo shows over 600 distressed passengers crammed into the massive military cargo plane escaping the fundamentalist rule of the Taliban, who have taken over the country after US forces were phased out.
Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport
Wakil Kohsar / AFP / Getty Images
Initially, it was never intended for such a large amount of people to board the C-17. Many panicked Afghans who had been cleared to evacuate pulled themselves onto the aircraft’s half open ramp, a defense official said.
However, instead of forcing the refugees off the plane, the crew decided to take off and go.
It is believed to be the largest number of people that have ever boarded this plane, US officials said.
640 people in C-17 Globemaster III
Video footage of the outside of this plane portray a very stark reality.
Unfortunately, the plane was unable to fit all of the desperate Afghans clinging on to the outside of the aircraft hoping for an equal chance of survival as the 640 passengers.
In fact, two people allegedly fell to their deaths from the undercarriage after takeoff.
The Taliban took over Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, on Sunday evening, leading to chaotic scenes at the airport.
Taliban fighters take control of Afghan presidential palace in Kabul.
Some are saying that these tragedies are likely to become a defining symbol of the west’s failure in Afghanistan.
Afghan child waits to leave Kabul on the tarmac of the airport near military uniform
Wakil Kohsar / AFP / Getty Images
Following the fall of Kabul, civilians were left with a choice to either stay at home or make the dangerous journey to the airport where nothing was guaranteed.
All civilian flights were suspended on Monday for safety reasons and Afghan nationals were told that it was not safe to travel to the airport.
A member of Taliban forces sits on an armored vehicle outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul
Nonetheless, according to Defense One, the viral flight was one of several that was able to take off with hundreds of people aboard. An official even stated that some of the others may have had a larger load than the 640.
Locally, Malta’s Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo has insisted that only an Afghan-led peace process can see the country emerge from the grip of terrorist groups and lead to them building a stable and prosperous nation.
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