A near-empty plane carrying wife of former UK Royal Marine commando took off from Kabul - despite thousands of people waiting in the airport chaos to leave Afghanistan.?
Paul 'Pen' Farthing, a British expat who lives in Kabul, has been separated from his wife during the turmoil engulfing Afghanistan. He explained to Sky News his journey to Kabul airport so that he could help his wife Kaisa evacuate.
She subsequently boarded a C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft as she made her way to her native Norway.??
Farthing expressed anger at the fact that some planes are not even fully loaded with passengers due to the continuing chaos at the airport.? ?
Aircraft are taking off from the airport every hour "regardless of whether they're full or not...People can't get in, they cannot get into the airport," he was quoted as saying by Sky News.?
"We are going to leave people behind, that is an absolute given...This is an absolute screw-up of an evacuation. We are going to be watching some absolutely horrific scenes," Farthing added.?
While people are struggling to get out of the country, this couple managed to make?their journey in the dark to avoid the huge crowds.?
"Going at night obviously has its own hazards - it was the choice of two evils and thankfully it paid off," he was quoted as saying by Sky News.
Taking to his official Twitter handle, Farthing shared an image of the empty plane.
"Kaisa is on her way home! BUT this aircraft is empty¡scandalous as thousands wait outside #Kabul airport being crushed as they cannot get in Sadly people will be left behind when this mission is over as we CANNOT get it right," his tweet read.?
Thousands of people have been?waiting desperately at the Kabul airport to get a chance at moving out from the country.?Some have even lost their lives while making an attempt to escape.??
Just few days, disturbing scenes were witnessed when 640 Afghans flew in US cargo plane, just to get miles away from their country, which has now been taken over by Taliban.?
At least 12 people are said to have died in and around the airport since Sunday, as per Sky News.