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A photo has emerged on social media, giving the world a glimpse of what it's like inside one of the U.S. military planes that recently departed from Kabul.
A Facebook post by political scientist Ian Bremmer, with the caption "Inside a US transport taking off from Kabul. Extraordinary," has since gone viral with over 44,000 shares:
A U.S. Defense official was quoted saying that the Afghans had pulled themselves onto the C-17's half-open ramp, according to Defense One.
Even though they were not intending to take on such a large load, the crew made the decision to fly instead of trying to "force those refugees off the aircraft".
The cargo plane, which was one of the many which were able to take off with hundreds of civilians on board, was carrying over five times of its suggested load as it departed.
Over 600 Afghans, including women and children, were packed into that space. Some of the other flights may have had an even larger load than 640, reports stated.
According to The Australian, the cargo flight is capable of carrying 77,564kg of cargo, but only designed for 134 soldiers.
It was reported that the flight safely evacuated the Afghans late Sunday and landed in Qatar.
Afghans trying to flee the country
Kabul's airport has been thrown into chaos ever since the Taliban took over the capital.
Foreigners and some Afghans with links to foreign governments and organisations were able to be evacuated, the BBC reported.
However, there were rumours that even those without visas being allowed to travel, leading to huge crowds gathering at the airport in a desperate attempt to flee.
Videos circulating on social media showed Afghans chasing down planes in hopes of getting on board and fleeing the country.
On Aug. 15, U.S. military officials announced that they had closed the airport to commercial flights after gunfire occurred near the airport, AP reported.
This essentially shut out one of the last avenues of escape for Afghans.
At one point, Afghans were also seen clinging on to the side of a U.S. military plane as it took off, with The Guardian reporting that at least two were seen apparently falling to their deaths.
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Top photo via Defense One.