Human remains found in landing gear of C-17 that ferried Afghan refugees
As if videos capturing the fatal fall of two people who had tied themselves to an US aircraft wasn’t terrifying enough, the US Air Force has now confirmed that human remains were found in the wheels of the C-17 cargo plane when it landed at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base.
The Air Force also said that multiple people were killed as civilians swarmed around the cargo carrier in their desperation to board it when it was taking off from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on Monday.
While the incident is being probed by the Office of Special Investigations, the Air Force is yet to specify the exact number of people killed in the mayhem.
A Washington Post report said that the body of an Afghan national was found in the landing gear of the C-17 plane. The body was discovered when the plane’s landing gear didn’t go up.
Also read: Chaos at Kabul airport as terrified Afghans try to flee homeland
Panic broke out in Afghanistan’s capital when the Taliban took control of Kabul in a quick and surprising manner even as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Wary of the dangers of the Taliban’s rule, people, both Afghans and foreign nationals scrambled to get out of the country. With the Taliban having taken over all border posts, the Kabul airport was the only place left to leave Afghanistan.
According to US Air Force, the C-17 Globemaster, a cargo carrier, had landed at Kabul airport to deliver equipment required in evacuation. However, the aircraft was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians, who had breached the gates and stormed onto the tarmac, before it could take off. Videos of the day at the airport showed hundreds of Afghans desperately trying to board the aircraft with some even tying themselves to its wheels. The captain and crew decided to take off in view of the security situation.
Later videos of the take-off showed two people, apparently clung to the outer body of the aircraft fall to their death as the plane took to the skies.