Refugee families have been left waiting in sewage canals outside Kabul Airport in Afghanistan as they desperately attempt to board flights out of the country.
Reporters in the area said the "stench" of sewage filled the air as panic sets in ahead of the final date for US and European defence troops flying people out on August 31, reports Sky News.
But as the end of the month looms, thousands remain trapped in the "no man's land" - with their only option being to wait - or return and face the unknowns of Taliban rule.
Sky's Stuart Ramsay told how he had watched "would-be evacuees stand knee-deep in a sewage-filled canal", with the smell coming from the area "indescribable".
He went on: "Some have been here for days. It is very hot and there is a lack of water and food. The conditions they're in is a cocktail just as lethal as any bullet."
The reporter said people "with the right papers for travel" would be pulled from the canal by soldiers, but added it was "not easy, as it's a deep and sheer wall".
He continued: "[Families] emerge dripping wet but mostly relieved. And remember, this is just the point where their right to travel will be considered - they can still be rejected.
"What strikes me every time I am outside, is the number of very young children enduring all of this - it really is heart-breaking."
World leaders are currently urging President Biden to extend the date of when US troops would be removed from Afghanistan and evacuation would end.
Now it is reported Dominic Raab told MPs the government wants to see a functioning airport after the troops' departure, reports Sky News.
"If we want to do this in a more managed way and really take the steep angle off the cliff edge, what we really could do with is the Taliban being able to run a functional airport in Kabul," he said.
Mr Biden had been roundly criticised before the meeting by MPs from all parties America's chaotic withdrawal from the war-torn country.
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan last Sunday, with even Mr Biden admitting militants' lightning rise to power was quicker than western leaders predicted.
It came as Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Afghans to stop travelling to Kabul airport as no evacuations would be permitted after the August 31 deadline.
During a press conference in Kabul, he said: “August 31 is the time given and after that it’s something that is against the agreement.
"All people should be removed prior to that date. After that we do not allow them, it will not be allowed in our country, we will take a different stance.”
The newly established rulers of Afghanistan have demanded that the US keep to the previously agreed withdrawal date.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has said no evacuations from Afghanistan will be permitted after that deadline.
During a press conference in Kabul, he said: "August 31 is the time given and after that it's something that is against the agreement.
"All people should be removed prior to that date.
"After that we do not allow them, it will not be allowed in our country, we will take a different stance."
According to the BBC, the Taliban's spokesman said Afghans should not go to the airport or try to leave the country - but added that foreigners would be allowed to travel.
