British man fleeing Kabul describes how he got out
Describing his tears as the German military helped him escape Kabul - a British businessman touched down at Frankfurt airport on Thursday (August 19) after a harrowing couple of days trying to flee Afghanistan.
"I am very thankful to the German airforce and German troops. They were doing a tremendous job at the airport, honestly!''
The man, who did not wish to give his name for security reasons, fled to the airport along with thousands of others after Kabul fell to the Taliban on Sunday (August 15).
Filming video on his phone along the way.
The Taliban on one side, U.S. troops on the other and looters marauding through the terminal.
"Somebody told me to go towards the North gate of the terminal where the American and German troops are and there was chaos when I arrived there. It took me a good few hours to get myself close to the gate and shout myself out that I am British and please get me out of here. So one of the soldiers just called me. As I said there was chaos and they had guns, they were shooting. They had no choice but to move the crowds from there so I understand that. Tear gas was just firing all around and then one of them just got me inside and I was in tears, honestly!''
The businessman who had been working in Kabul on and off for 12 years described the chaos inside the airport.
"So we were there for a couple of nights without food and water and the night after that ordinary people started coming into the airport without passports or anything. They looted the airport and the terminal, they broke everything that was in there: computers, the canteens - and we were scared. We were not allowed to go out because Taliban was there and on this side it was the American troops. So we were like, what are we going to do? Just stay here!"
On Wednesday (August 18), he finally got on a flight to Tashkent in Uzbekistan before arriving in Frankfurt on Thursday.
