Zaki Anwari, 19, who played for Afghanistan’s national youth team, was one of those who died in Monday’s chaos at Kabul airport
An Afghan teen-footballer who played for the national youth football team died by falling after he tried to cling to a US plane airlifting people out of Kabul.
Since the Taliban seized Kabul on Sunday, huge crowds have gathered at the city’s airport in the hope of escaping the country. Amid chaotic scenes at the weekend, hundreds of people were filmed running alongside a US Air Force plane as it gathered speed on the runway, and several people clung on to the side.
A disturbing video posted on social media appeared to show two people falling to their deaths from a C-17 aircraft after it took off.
The Afghan news agency Ariana said on Thursday that one of those who died in the mayhem was Zaki Anwari, a 19-year-old footballer, who fell from a USAF Boeing C-17 on Monday. It is believed Anwari attempted to hold on to the outside of the American military aircraft as it departed from Hamid Karzai international airport.
The General Directorate of Physical Education & Sports of Afghanistan confirmed Zaki Anwari, a player from the national youth football team, was among hundreds of young people who tried to leave the country by clinging to a US military plane. Anwari fell and died.#ArianaNews pic.twitter.com/onhcSMFiEu
— Ariana News (@ArianaNews_) August 19, 2021
Also read: 7 Taliban Men Now Running Afghanistan
One C-17 Globemaster leaving Kabul carried an estimated 640 people, more than five times its suggested payload, after hundreds rushed on to the plane. The US Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) said it was reviewing all available information regarding a C-17 aircraft, as well as the loss of civilian lives.
“In addition to online videos and press reports of people falling from the aircraft on departure, human remains were discovered in the wheel well of the C-17 after it landed at al-Udeid air base, Qatar,” it said.
It is also believed that at least five people died in the chaos at the Kabul airport, during which US troops fired into the air to stop people from making their way on to flights evacuating officials.
On Thursday Kabul airport was still chaotic, and dozens of people eligible for evacuation were unable to reach their rescue aircraft. The Taliban maintained a strong presence at airports and some people were seen trying to pass their babies to US soldiers in the hope they might escape the country.
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