At least five people have been killed at Kabul airport as hundreds of people desperate to get out of the country tried to forcibly enter planes, witnesses told Reuters.

All commercial flights have been cancelled from Hamid Karzai International Airport after the chaos that ensued as Afghans and foreigners tried to flee Afghanistan as Taliban fighters took over.

One witness said he had seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle, while another witness said it was not clear whether the victims were killed by gunshots or in a stampede.

Officials were not immediately available to comment on the deaths.

The developments came a day after Afghanistan’s capital fell to the Taliban.

“It was unclear how the people were killed. We do not know who has been shooting at the airport. It may have been airport staff trying to control the crowds or Taliban forces,” Al Jazeera’s Charlotte Bellis, reporting from Kabul, said.

“But people have died in this panic. Outside of that [the airport], things have been relatively smooth. The streets are very quiet,” she said.

The Al Jazeera correspondent said: “Scenes of utter chaos at the airport started last night [Sunday]”.

“Thousands of people trying to get into the airport. They essentially overran the airport after they clambered on the tarmac.”
Source: Al Jazeera News

BDST: 1617 HRS, AUG 16, 2021
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