Tuesday 17 August 2021
overloaded evacuation flight
640 Afghans enter US planes
Seeking protection from the Taliban, desperate Afghans try to leave the country on one of the evacuation flights. An American military machine took off from Kabul with more than 600 people. The plane is actually designed for very few passengers.
According to a media report, a US Air Force plane evacuated around 640 Afghan civilians in a single flight. The website “Defense One” published a photo of the packed interior of a C-17 transport plane, with Afghans sitting on the floor – which is no longer visible to all people.
“Defense One” reported that panicked Afghans pulled themselves into the plane through a half-open ramp in Kabul. The crew decided to take off instead of forcing people to land. Security circles were told that 640 civilians disembarked after landing in Qatar. According to manufacturer Boeing, the giant cargo plane is actually designed for up to 134 passengers. The US Department of Defense did not initially confirm the report.
There was chaos at the airport in Kabul on Monday. Afghans who wanted to flee the Taliban fled to the airspace for safety. Recordings showing people falling from a great height from a military plane created panic. It was suspected that they were hiding in or holding the landing gear. Air traffic had to be temporarily suspended due to congestion.
So the first Bundeswehr plane was able to land only at night after an hour’s delay. The machine dropped the paratroopers, who were supposed to secure the rescue operation, took the men on board and quickly resumed. According to information from the “Build” newspaper, only seven people from the official list of travel were on the return flight as they could no longer be brought to the airport due to the night curfew.
The US has already sent several thousand troops to Kabul to secure the evacuation operation. According to its own statements, the US Army is now stationed there with about 2,500 soldiers. According to the Pentagon, it should reach 6,000 in a few days.
