People missing after attempts to escape from Kabul airport

Afghan families do not know the whereabouts of their sons since earlier this week after they went to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in an attempt to leave the country following the Taliban takeover.

They are not among those who have been either killed or seriously injured amid the chaos at the airport that began on Sunday. 

At least 40 casualties, both fatalities and serious injuries, from shootings, stampeding and falling from aircraft have been reported since Monday. 

Afghan media reported that Faisal, 25, was a graduate of the Sharia faculty of Kabul University who went with other young men to the airport at 7 a.m. on Monday but has not been heard from since. 

“My son has been missing since Monday,” said Habibullah, a father of a missing person. 

“According to the news, forty people were killed and wounded since Monday, exact figures remain unknown,” said Humayoun, a relative of one missing person named Faisal. 

“The situation remains difficult, they were shooting with bullets at the people,” said Kabul resident Amir Mohammad. 

Footage shared on social media shows that at least six young people fell from an aircraft on Tuesday only a few seconds after the aircraft took off.