Right after the Taliban took over Afghanistan a few days ago, terrifying visuals of locals attempting to escape Kabul had emerged. These included a clip of what appeared to be two men who unfortunately fell to their death while trying to escape onto a US plane. One of the two has now been identified as a 19-year-old who was Afghan’s talented National footballer.
Zaki Anwari, 17, fell off the U.S. military plane & died.
He was a member of Afghanistan's national youth soccer team. He saw the arrival of the Taliban as "the end of his dreams & sports opportunities," said a sports official.https://t.co/0K2rgOxOZi— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) August 19, 2021
India Today reports that Zaki Anwari tried to cling to the departing plane headed out of Hamid Karzai International Airport. Reports suggest that he’d ‘lost all hope’ after the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s government and thought his ‘dreams will die’.
First Post reports that The General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports of Afghanistan confirmed news of his demise stating, ‘Anwari, like thousands of Afghan youths, wanted to leave the country but fell off a US plane and died.’
People from around the world took to Twitter to mourn the tragic loss:
So incredibly heartbreaking.
— Soupbonesgirl (@silverlabmomma) August 20, 2021
How intense was this fear of the Taliban that someone chose this instead. Whose at fault for the lack of personal safety and education?
— Hyper Lynx (@lynx404) August 20, 2021
God bless his soul. This is the world that we live in.🙏💖
— Timothy Brown (@Timothy96272213) August 20, 2021
Some of these comments…smh. He knew he would die, but there was that tiny glimmer of hope that maybe he could be pulled inside, and if not then he’d rather die then live under the Taliban. He was 17. 17.
— Seraphina (@Seraphi50524923) August 20, 2021
Our thoughts and prayers are with Anwari’s family and Afghan nationals in these trying times.