{"id":71206,"date":"2021-08-17T15:25:39","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T15:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=71206"},"modified":"2021-08-17T15:25:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T15:25:39","slug":"more-than-600-fleeing-afghans-cram-into-dramatic-us-military-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=71206","title":{"rendered":"More than 600 fleeing Afghans cram into dramatic US military flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"News Desk:<\/strong> A photo shows more than 600 Afghans — women, men, children and the elderly — sitting packed on the floor of a cavernous US military plane, part of a dramatic airlift hours after Kabul fell to the Taliban.<\/p>\n

The now-viral image, obtained and posted by the respected military news site Defense One, was taken inside a US Air Force C-17 transport.<\/p>\n

The Afghans crammed in the giant cargo hold on the Sunday night flight were among those approved for evacuation by US authorities, according to the site.<\/p>\n

The US military said about 640 Afghans were on board.<\/p>\n

But such a large number on one flight was not planned, a US official told Defense One — many climbed onto the half-open ramp at the back of the plane in desperation.<\/p>\n

“The crew made the decision to go” rather than force them out, the official said.<\/p>\n

It came as Taliban fighters flooded the streets of Kabul, with panicked citizens rushing to the airport to try and find a flight out of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

“The unusually high number of passengers aboard this aircraft… was the result of a dynamic security environment that necessitated quick decision making by the crew,” US Central Command spokesperson Karen Roxberry said in a statement.<\/p>\n

It “ultimately ensured that these passengers were safely taken outside the country”.<\/p>\n

Among the people visible in the photo is a small child holding a feeding bottle in the lap of a woman. Several other people are seen holding small children.<\/p>\n

Hardly any belongings are visible among the passengers, except a small suitcase and a backpack in the foreground.<\/p>\n

The flight — which Defense One said had the call sign Reach 871 — landed in Qatar in the early hours of Monday, according to the tracking website FlightAware.<\/p>\n

The US military did not specify the destination.<\/p>\n

This C-17 was not the only one to take so many Afghans out of the country — Defense One cited the US official as saying several planes took off from Kabul with similar numbers.<\/p>\n

It is also not the first time Boeing C-17s — workhorses of the US Air Force transport fleet — have been used for such a large evacuation.<\/p>\n

In 2013, a US C-17 flew out more than 670 people from the eastern Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan.<\/p>\n

In its usual configuration, a C-17 carries just over 100 troops with equipment.<\/p>\n

– Chaos, desperation –<\/p>\n

There have been desperate and chaotic scenes at Kabul airport, where the apron and runway were flooded Monday by thousands of people hoping to get a flight out of the country.<\/p>\n

Many were not eligible for evacuation flights, did not have tickets on commercial flights or even visas.<\/p>\n

In harrowing videos shared on social media, hundreds of people are seen running next to a C-17 as it appears to gather speed, some clinging to the sides of the plane.<\/p>\n

In another, attack helicopters are seen flying low near the crowds in an apparent attempt to clear the runway for an aircraft.<\/p>\n

Afghan media reported that several people died after falling from planes as they took off.<\/p>\n

One person died in the landing gear well of a C-17 that took off from Kabul, the Washington Post and Politico reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News Desk: A photo shows more than 600 Afghans — women, men, children and the elderly — sitting packed on the floor of a cavernous US military plane, part of a dramatic airlift hours after Kabul fell to the Taliban. The now-viral image, obtained and posted by the respected military news site Defense One, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":71207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n