In a tragic turn of events, a national team footballer reportedly died after he fell from a US military plane at the Kabul airport on Monday. Young football player Zaki Anwari had climbed onto the C-17 plane that took off from the Kabul International airport.
Desperate to flee the country after the Taliban takeover, panic-stricken people of Afghanistan including Anwari flocked to the Kabul airport in a bid to flee the nation. Visuals showed many civilians trying to board the moving plane as it took off from the national capital.
Also Read: Shocking video shows 3 people falling off plane mid-air in Kabul
Anwari's death after his fall from the C-17 plane was confirmed by the General Directorate for Sport, reported Afghan news agency Ariana.
“I was at Kabul airport when desperate passengers held departing US airplanes and also my own airplane that was due to leave Kabul airport,” Director General of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies Davood Moradian said.
“It was sheer human desperation, helplessness and fear. These passengers were not alone in their desperation and fear. They represent millions of Afghans from diverse backgrounds, from women's rights activists to farmers. The world must intervene to avert and mitigate an apocalyptic humanitarian tragedy."
The 19-year-old is believed to have died while trying to hold on to the outside of the American military aircraft. Anwari represented the Afghanistan national youth football team. His remains were found in the wheel of the aircraft when it landed in Qatar, said DailyMail. Three Afghan nationals fell to death from the sky, according to video clips posted by a local news agency.
A picture of over 600 petrified civilians strangled in the military plane had surfaced on social media after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is now under Taliban control. The government forces collapsed without the support of the US military, which invaded in 2001 after the September 11 attacks and toppled the Taliban for its support of Al Qaeda.
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