At least five people were killed in Kabul airport as hundreds of people tried to forcibly enter planes leaving the Afghan capital, witnesses told Reuters.
One witness said he had seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle. Another witness said it was not clear whether the victims were killed by gunshots or in a stampede.
U.S. troops, who are in charge of the airport, earlier fired in the air to scatter the crowd, a U.S. official said.
Officials were not immediately available to comment on the deaths.
Reuters also said earlier that major airlines, including United Airlines (UAL.O), British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic, are rerouting flights to avoid Afghanistan airspace after insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as U.S.-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizens.
The Taliban swept into Afghanistan’s capital on Aug 15 after the government collapsed and the embattled president joined an exodus of his fellow citizens and foreigners, signaling the end of a costly two-decade U.S. campaign to remake the country.
