Photo of Packed Transport Plane Flying Refugees Out of Afghanistan Goes Viral

A photo showing a massive C-17 military cargo plane loaded with around 640 Afghan people leaving from Kabul and headed to Qatar went viral this week. The aircraft left Kabul Airport Sunday with the desperate refugees. The US Air Force has been operating the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft for nearly three decades and is one of the largest cargo transport aircraft.

Other images from the airport show frantic Afghans rushing and clinging to aircraft as they taxied across the airport.

One sequence showed what looked to be people dropping from an aircraft after it had taken off (see image).

The dire situation is the result of a hasty exit of US troops from the region and the Taliban regaining control of the country.