Landing gear Kabul Afghanistan

Photo: Twitter / Composite

Watch: Three ‘fall from landing gear’ while trying to escape Afghanistan

Several people – who were seen clinging to the landing gear of a plane leaving Afghanistan – have reportedly fallen to their deaths at Kabul Airport.

Landing gear Kabul Afghanistan

Photo: Twitter / Composite

The heartbreaking scenes reaching us from Afghanistan are unrelenting on Monday. This immense human tragedy is playing out at lightning speed, and as US forces evacuate citizens from Kabul, others have tried to escape the war-torn country’s capital by any means necessary. Unfortunately, this has led to deadly consequences.

Afghanistan latest news and updates on Monday 16 August: Kabul Airport witnesses abject chaos

Afghan news agency Asvaka has confirmed that ‘at least three people’ fell from the landing gear of a C-17A military plane, which fled Kabul to evacuate hundreds of residents to the state of Qatar. The US has scrambled to get all of its personnel out of the collapsing nation, after the Taliban surged to take control of the government.

This is a horrendous day for humanity, make no mistake about that. Nothing summarises the grim reality of this painful situation quite like the scenes at Kabul Airport, though. Earlier in the day, thousands of people descended onto the runways, and attempted to board planes that were parked up on the tarmac.

Some have remained grounded, but others have been able to successfully escape. Sadly, the sheer desperation from some fearful citizens has cost them their lives. Footage has emerged of some Afghan citizens plunging to their deaths, after grabbing onto the body of the aforementioned army aircraft.

Watch: Citizens fleeing Afghanistan fall from plane

We can’t show you the video itself, but in the moments before the flight took off, the danger became apparent to all:

Western countries launch rescue missions

As thousands of people mobbed the city’s airport trying to flee the group’s feared hardline brand of Islamist rule, the US and 65 other countries issued a joint statement urging the Taliban to citizens to leave the country.  The EU was also left desperately trying to find a solution for its Afghan staff facing possible reprisals.

They are seeking to convince its 27 member states to offer them visas. The US military secured Kabul’s airport on Monday as the US, Germany, France and the Netherlands transferred their staff to the site to prepare for evacuation.  Other members of NATO, including Italy and the UK, announced the imminent evacuation of their staff, as did Sweden.