Tale of desperation as hundreds packed in plane

It’s a dramatic image showing just how desperate many in Afghanistan are to flee the country.

Hundreds of Afghans managed to get onto the half-open ramp of the US Air Force C-17 aircraft on Sunday as it left Kabul for Qatar, just hours after the Taliban took over the capital.

Instead of forcing them off, the crew decided to take off, according to US defence news website Defense One. Some 640 people were onboard the aircraft – among the largest numbers ever flown in a C-17.

Images on Monday showed people running to planes as they left the tarmac. The US army says soldiers shot two armed men, while three people are reported to have died after falling from the underside of a plane they were clinging to shortly after take-off.

source: bbc