A 17-year-old Afghan footballer has died after falling from an American evacuation plane.

A member of Afghanistan’s national youth football team was among those killed while desperately trying to cling to a US military plane evacuating people from Kabul, the country’s official sports federation reported on Thursday.

His name was Zaki Anwari and I was 17.

On Monday, a crowd of Afghans invaded the runway of the international airport in a fierce fight for escaping from a country recently invaded by the Taliban.

In a scene that shocked the world and in one heartbreaking single moment summed up the chaos of the United States’ exit from Afghanistan, some of them chased planes carrying Americans and tried to climb up their flanks , their wings and wheels.

The young footballer was among them, said the federation.

“Anwari was one of hundreds of young people who wanted to leave the country and, during an incident, it fell of a US military plane and was killed, ”the group said in a statement on Facebook.

The Afghan sports community is suffering, the statement said.

He wished Zaki a place in heaven and offered a prayer for God to grant his family, friends and teammates peace and patience in their duel.

The federation released photos of Zaki wearing his team’s red jersey – it was number 10 – and standing on a football pitch.

Another photo showed him in a suit and tie.

Next to them were photos of an American military plane with what appeared to be a fallen body and a single red rose.

Video taken on Monday showed at least two bodies falling to the ground from a plane shortly after takeoff.

Pentagon confirmed two people died falling from plane, and they were discovered parts of the body on the landing gear of the aircraft after landing in Qatar.

In a telephone interview from Kabul on Thursday, Aref peyman, responsible for media relations for the sports federation and the olympic committee from Afghanistan, confirmed Zaki’s death.

Peyman said that Zaki came from a family of low income from Kabul and had worked very hard to achieve his dream of being on the national football team while attending school.

“He was kind and patient, but like many of our young people, he saw the arrival of the Taliban as the end of his dreams and sporting opportunities,” Peyman said.

“I was desperate and wanted a better life.”

Many Afghans have taken to social media to express their shock and anger.

“Shame on the Talibans, “wrote Marzieh Zal on the federation’s Facebook page.

“Rest in peace dear Zaki, I cannot believe that you are no longer with us,” Mohammad Sharif Ahmadi wrote in another article.

Afghanistan’s rapid fall to the Taliban has caused panic among many Afghans, including athletes, who feared the return of the extremist religious government would spell the end of the day. end of their career and other opportunities.

An Olympic athlete, the sprinter Kamia Yousufi, 25, who carried the Afghan flag during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, has since fled to Iran, according to the media. Peyman confirmed this information.

President Joe biden it has come under heavy criticism for the way the US military withdrew from Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation.

Biden defended his handling of the exit.

In an interview with ABC News, he was also asked about the dead people hanging on the plane and he dismissed the question.

“It was four or five days ago,” he says.

c. 2021 The New York Times Company