Bloomberg News reported that Kam Air, an Afghan private airline company, transferred at least 155 family members of the company’s leadership to Abu Dhabi.
Based on the report, the flight was intended to evacuate journalists and other qualified persons out of the country, but families of the airline’s leadership were crammed into the half-empty plane at the last moment.
After the airplane landed in the United Arab Emirates, the US State department discovered the evacuees were not on the list, according to the report
Officials at Kam Air denied the claims, saying the company was not picking evacuees. The company was only responsible for transferring them, they said.
“We had only two flights–to Abu Dhabi and Tbilisi. They went according to the list. Because many people remain in Afghanistan, they make these claims that Kam Air took some families and relatives,” said Mohammad Dawood Sharifi, Kam Air chief executive.
The passengers who were allegedly not on the list are reportedly still in Abu Dhabi and their fate is uncertain.
Meanwhile, sources at the airline said that several people related to the chairman of the company were on the flight.
“I am a journalist working here, and still here. This has negatively affected my soul that someone misused my identity ( being a journalist ) and went out of the country, said Jawad Etimad, a journalist.
“Every person from any address that committed this action should be accountable,” said Ahmad Shuaib Fana, chief executive of the Afghanistan National Journalist Association.
Kam Air international flights are currently only to Pakistan from Mazar-e-Sharif.
