Horror: Afghan footballer crushed to death in plane’s landing gear

A young Afghan footballer was among a number of people who died after either falling from a US military aircraft as it left Kabul airport or getting crushed in its landing gear, it emerged on Thursday.

Zaki Anwari, 19,  played on the Afghan national youth football team. He was among hundreds of people who swarmed an American C-17 plane in an attempt to board it and leave Afghanistan on Monday.

The number of Afghan nationals who died after taking off by clinging to the landing gear of the C-17 has yet to be determined. At least three people were seen falling from the departing aircraft.

People gathered at the tarmac were horrified seeing their countrymen fall to death, while occupants of the houses in the take-off flight path were shocked when the bodies hit roofs with “a loud and terrifying noise,” an Afghan news agency Asvaka (warning graphic content) has reported quoting eyewitness.

Still more harrowing scenes were reported when the same plane landed in Qatar where human remains were found in the landing gear. People who died after being crushed to death stood no chance of surviving even if they were not crushed as the plane flies at a cruise altitude of 28,000, but it emerged that they met a more tragic death.

British newspapers the Times and Daily Mail Online reported Anwari was believed to have died in the landing gear. “He is thought to have been caught in the landing gear and his remains were found in a wheel well by the US aircraft crew,” the Times said citing the Afghan general directorate of physical education and sports.

Earlier, a French TV channel France24, and other media outlets claimed that Anwari was one of three people who died after falling from the plane. However, France24 said it was unable to confirm the exact circumstances of Anwari’s death.

The Afghan general directorate of physical education and sports issued an online statement on Thursday confirming the death and paid tribute to the young player.

Influencer style social media profile

Anwari never wanted to live under Taliban rule.

He attended a prestigious international school, Esteqlal, in Kabul alongside the children of diplomats, Daily Mail Online reported.

Anwari’s social media profile is one of an aspiring influencer, filled with western-influenced modelling style photos, the newspaper said.

In the last Facebook post, Anwari writes, “You’re the painter of your life. Don’t give the paint brush to anyone else!”

The US Air Force has announced that its Office of Special Investigations was reviewing the incident. The aircraft has been grounded pending the investigation.