An Afghan footballer has been killed after falling from a military aircraft which was leaving Kabul airport on Monday, the Afghan news agency Ariana said on Thursday.
Zaki Anvari, the former Afghan national youth team footballer, is reportedly to be one of seven who died falling from the aircraft.
Crowds of people seeking to flee Aghanistan have thronged the airport since Taliban insurgents swept to power on Sunday, with many seen trying to board a moving plane.
Ariana said Zaki Anwari fell from a USAF Boeing C-17 and that the death had been confirmed by the General Directorate for Sport.
Online tributes were posted to the talented footballer, who is believed to have been 19.
Journalist Babak Taghvaee reported: "Very sad to hear that one of the youths who tried to leave #Kabul through grabbing the landing gear bay of a #USAF's C-17A transport airplane few days ago was a player of #Afghanistan's National youth soccer team, Zaki Anvari.
“His body parts were found in the landing gear bay.”
Previously he had reported that the presence of stowaways in the landing gear had caused the plane to divert to Qatar for an “emergency landing” after leaving Kabul.
The Washington Post cited a US official saying that stowaways falling from the sky “absolutely happened”, with the report adding: “It is believed that they were Afghans who climbed aboard the landing gear and attempted to stow away as the plane took off.
“People familiar with the situation said the pilots declared an emergency when they could not put their landing gear up.
“The crew diverted and landed in a nearby third country, and some human remains were found in the wheel well when it was inspected.”
Tens of thousands of people have surrounded the Hamid Karzai International Airport desperately trying to get away after the Taliban seized control of the capital.
