In a bid to escape the country, an Afghan footballer who played for the national youth clung to the outside of a U.S. plane, but a few minutes after the plane took off, the player fell and died on August 16. Thousands of Afghans rushed to Kabul's international airport Monday; some were so desperate to escape the country that they held onto an American military jet as it took off and plunged to death in the chaos that killed at least seven people, U.S. officials said.