KABUL – In video footage that could become some of the defining images of the fall of Kabul, Afghans desperate to escape the Taliban takeover clung to the side of a departing U.S. military jet as it rolled down the tarmac Monday. Some of them apparently fell to their death as the aircraft gained altitude.
Scores of people ran alongside the giant U.S. Air Force plane at the Kabul airport, and some managed to get a foothold before it took off.
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U.S. authorities said that all told, at least seven people died during the chaotic evacuation at the airport, including several who fell from a military jet.
Video apparently of the same aircraft from a distance showed people watching as one or more objects plummeted to the ground.
People could be heard saying, “Look, one fell” and then, “Ohhh, another also fell.”