The Conversation (0)
Kate Plummer
Aug 19, 2021
A family have spoken out about their distress upon suspecting an Afghan who plunged to his death from a plan was their son.
As Afghanistan fell to the Taliban on Sunday, thousands of people stormed Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul hoping to flee, fearing the repressive regime that could be implemented.
Shocking images and footage showed people cling onto an American C-17 aircraft taking off from a runway in desperation. It has been reported that at least three people fell from the plane and died.
Now, a family has told Vice News that they believe the person seen falling from the C-17 in the viral footage was their 17-year-old son. Their other son, who is just 16, is also missing.
A relative said: “We are really upset that we’ve lost two... we’ve found the body of one of them, but the other one is still missing.
“Everyone is trying to run away. It is in fear of the Taliban, they are killing people. They have all left to go the airport... they want to go abroad.”
The relative explained how the teenager heard a rumour that Canada and the United States would be accepting 20,000 refugees.
The 17-year-old leapt at the chance of being one of the first people to be admitted under the rumoured scheme and “without telling anyone in the house, he took his personal ID, and left to the airport”.
The relative was able to find the remains of the 17-year-old after his body landed in a region near the airport.
The family is now desperately searching for their other younger son.
They said: “We hope to find him dead or alive so it will console our family. We are worried, and we went from one hospital to another, but we didn’t get any information.
“His mother is devastated, she is passing out every now and then.”
In addition to people dying from falling from the plane, there were also human remains discovered in the wheel arch of the C-17 aircraft.
The US Air Force has said its Office of Special Investigations is reviewing the incident.