The Afghan teen who chose to die clinging to plane rather than live under the Taliban: Football player, 19, with an influencer-style social media profile is identified as boy who tried to cling to landing gear of US jet and was found dead in wheel
This is the teenage Afghan national youth team footballer who died when he became trapped in the landing gear of a US evacuation flight in a desperate attempt to flee the Taliban.
Zaki Anwari, 19, was born after the US drove the Taliban from Afghanistan and would only have heard about their rule from his parents while living under the western-supported regimes of Presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani.
He attended a prestigious international school in Kabul alongside the children of diplomats and his social media profile is one of an aspiring influencer, filled with western-influenced modelling style photos.
His football team the Khorosan lions reported that he had been among the teen's videoed clinging to the side of a US C-17 transport.
Mr Anwari's remains were discovered in the wheel well of a US C-17 transport jet when it arrived in Qatar, after the plane had taken off from Kabul with despairing Afghans clinging to the fuselage on Monday.
The athlete was among several people who died after clambering onto the aircraft as it took off, with harrowing video showing bodies tumbling to the ground as the jet climbed into the sky.
Two of those who died when they fell from the plane were reported to be teenage brothers who sold watermelon at Kabul's central market. Aged 16 and 17, social media reports said the brothers routinely scavenged in the bins of Kabul's markets to provide for their mother because the family was so poor.
The horrifying scenes of so many young men sat on a fin below the plane's turbine as it barreled down the runway, only to then fall hundreds of feet to their deaths, will likely become the defining image of Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The United States Air Force later said that the pilots decided to go ahead with takeoff because the jet 'was surrounded' and there was a 'rapidly deteriorating security situation around the aircraft.'
Mr Anwari's death was confirmed by the General Directorate of Physical Education & Sports of Afghanistan, Arian News reported on Thursday.
The promising footballer had rushed to the airport hours after Kabul fell to the Taliban, joining thousands of others in pouring onto the runway and then chasing after the USAF jet despite warning shots ringing out.
The beloved teen had attended the prestigious French-speaking Esteqlal High School, in Kabul, and had been called up to the national youth team as a 16-year-old. His 'unspeakable loss' was mourned by his friends and peers on social media today.
In a poignant last Facebook post, Mr Anwari had written: 'You're the painter of your life. Don't give the paint brush to anyone else!'
Zaki Anwari attended a prestigious French-American school in Kabul alongside the children of western diplomats
his social media profile is one of an aspiring influencer, filled with western-influenced modelling style photos.
Zaki Anwari, 19, had played for the Afghan national youth football team
Anwari was among young Afghan men were seen clambering onto the USAF jet as it took off from Kabul on Monday. At least three of them died, two teenage brothers by falling from the wheels and Anwari was found dead in the wheel well
MONDAY: Video footage emerged showing a dozen men - some young - clinging to the landing gear of a US evacuation jet flying out of Kabul airport as pandemonium unfolded after the Taliban seized the capital
The 19-year-old is believed to be among several people who died after clinging to the jet as it took off on Monday
The promising footballer had rushed to the airport hours after Kabul fell to the Taliban, joining thousands of others in pouring onto the runway and then chasing after the USAF jet despite warning shots ringing out
At least three bodies were seen falling from the USAF jet as it climbed into the air on Monday
People chasing after a USAF C-17 cargo jet at Kabul airport on Monday, when thousands poured onto the runway for a chance to flee the Taliban
One friend wrote today: 'He was a brother, with whom I had the most unforgettable memories, and his unspeakable loss fills me with sadness.'
Afghanistan's assistant manager Ali Askar Lali said: 'May his soul rest in peace and his memory be remembered.'
The United States Air Force on Tuesday confirmed that it was opening an investigation into the takeoff that saw Mr Anwari and several others clinging to the plane's exterior as it ascended.
Footage showed people sitting on fin below one of the plane's turbines while others darted underneath the nose of the plane and in front of its wheels.
'The aircraft was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians who had breached the airport perimeter,' said USAF.
'Faced with a rapidly deteriorating security situation around the aircraft, the C-17 crew decided to depart the airfield as quickly as possible. Human remains were discovered in the wheel well of the C-17 after it landed at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.
'The aircraft is currently impounded to provide time to collect the remains and inspect the aircraft before it is returned to flying status.'
Up to eight people were killed amid chaotic scenes at the airport on Monday, including two armed men who were shot by US troops. Evacuations were paused as American and allied soldiers attempted to secure the airport perimeter, before resuming 90 minutes later.
Since Sunday, a total of 12 people are believed to have been killed at Hamid Karzai airport, some of whom have been crushed in stampedes as terrified civilians react to constant rattles of machine gun fire.
And despite Washington's claims that the airport has been secured, images and reports from the ground paint a terrifying picture of Taliban fighters roaming the perimeter and barring anyone from entering.
Ex-pats and Western visa holders can't get 'anywhere near' the airport because of the 'huge crowds' of 'terrified locals' that are blocking the roads, MailOnline was told on Thursday.
This despite US and British lawmakers insisting Taliban guards are letting people through checkpoints and planes are not taking off empty.
Videos captured snapshots of the chaos as gunmen fired shots over the heads of panicked crowds while hitting people with rifles - as those on the ground said Taliban fighters were dishing out beating and lashings seemingly at random, with people being trampled and crushed in the throng.
Paul 'Pen' Farthing, a former Marine who now lives in Kabul with his wife, described the scene as a 'clusterf***', telling MailOnline: 'Two ex-pats - one British and one Norwegian - have already been forced to turn back this morning because they can't get through.
'And last night a UN convoy carrying various foreign nationals, who had been working in Afghanistan for NGOs, had to turn round because of the sheer volume of people on the street.'
Such is the desperation among crowds at the airport that women have resorted to passing babies over barbed wire to soldiers in a vain attempt to get them out of the country.
An Afghan-Australian trying to leave the country also told the ABC that it is 'not possible' to get to the airport today because there is 'lots of firing' and 'too many people' while Max Sangeen, a Canadian interpreter, said his wife and children - including a 20-day-old baby - are trapped in Kabul despite having proper documents.
But it is not clear what, if anything, western troops can do to help. There are around 6,000 American and 900 British soldiers at the airport - alongside smaller numbers of Turks and Australians - but their jurisdiction only extends up to the perimeter wall. Beyond that, the Taliban is in charge.
And those on the ground say the Islamists have little or no idea what they are doing or who to let through, as the UN warned fighters are hunting through the crowd for those who collaborated with British or American forces so they can be 'punished', despite public reassurances that there will be no reprisal attacks.
