A STAMPEDE at Kabul Airport has left five people dead as thousands storm planes in a desperate bid to flee Afghanistan. In chaotic scenes echoing the sudden fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war, petrified men, women and children were filmed trying to get on aircraft after the Taliban stormed the capital.
Desperate people were filmed trying climb up a ladder to get on a plane while others were seen being pulled on board another aircraft. One witness said he had seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle at the airport.
One witness said he had seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle at the airport. At one stage, US troops guarding the airport were forced to fire shots into the air but it’s unclear if those who died were hit by bullets or crushed in the stampede.
At one stage, US Apache helicopter gunships swooped down across a runway to clear desperate people trying to board a transport aircraft. Residents of Kabul today woke up to their first day under Taliban rule with reports the hardliners were scouring the city looking for military vehicles.
In a bid to flee what they fear will be a return to the Taliban’s brutal rule based on an extreme interpretation of Islam, people raced to the airport in a frantic bid to board a flight. Another clip showed what were apparently US embassy staff attempting to flee by pulling each other into a plane while the ramp was being raised.
And a third video showed over a thousand citizens attempting to board a KamAir flight to Istanbul which can only carry 300 passengers. Footage showed people pushing and shoving as they make their way through the overpacked aisle of the plane which is already over capacity.