US says human remains found in wheel of military plane that took off from Kabul
The US military announced that it had found "human remains" in the landing gear of a military transport plane that hundreds of terrified Afghans tried to cling to as it took off from Kabul airport on Monday.
The US Air Force said in a statement that it would review all videos circulating on social media of the C-17 military transport plane, which was chased by hundreds of people as it took off from the runway of Kabul Airport, some of whom tried in a frantic way to grab onto its sides or wheels.
The statement quoted Air Force spokeswoman Anne Stefanik as saying that in addition to videos uploaded to social media and press reports that people fell from the plane shortly after takeoff, human remains were found in the plane's landing kit when it landed at Al Udeid air base in Qatar.
The spokeswoman stressed that the army decided to open an investigation into the "tragic accident."
"The investigation will be thorough to allow us to get all the facts about this tragic incident," she added.
The spokeswoman did not announce any death toll from the accident, nor did she confirm the information that a person was crushed under the wheels of the plane during takeoff.
The transport plane had just landed at Kabul airport to unload its cargo of equipment for US military reinforcements sent to secure the evacuation of civilians from Afghanistan when hundreds of Afghans desperately tried to board.
Stefanik said that "before the crew could unload the plane, hundreds of Afghans were surrounding it" after they stormed the runway after breaching the airport's security cordon.
"Faced with the rapidly deteriorating situation around the aircraft, the crew decided to leave as quickly as possible," she added.
Many on social media circulated a video clip, showing Afghan citizens clinging to an American plane as it departed Kabul Airport.
Social media also circulated another video clip showing a number of people falling after clinging to a plane that took off from the ground.
Afghan citizens were trying to flee the country, after the Taliban movement reached Kabul and took control of all the provinces of Afghanistan.
