US probing deaths at plane takeoff in Kabul

Afghan citizens pack inside a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, as they are transported from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan. Pic/AP/PTI

The US Air Force has said that its Office of Special Investigations is reviewing an incident at the Kabul airport on Monday in which multiple people were killed when hundreds of Afghan civilians desperate to leave the country swarmed a C-17 cargo plane as it was attempting to take off.

The Air Force did not say how many people died. It said human remains were found in the plane's wheel well after it landed at al-Udeid Air Base in the Gulf state of Qatar. Videos of the incident, including images of people falling from the aircraft as it took off, were widely viewed on social media. The images captured the initial chaos of a US-directed evacuation that followed the Taliban's takeover of the country.

Also read: US to expand its security presence at Kabul airport to 6,000 troops

The Air Force said the C-17 Globemaster III had landed at Kabul airport to deliver equipment for the evacuation effort. Before the crew could offload the cargo, the aircraft was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians who had breached the security perimeter. Because the security situation was getting worse, the crew decided to take off.

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