'Repulsive' t-shirt sold after Afghans fall to death fleeing Taliban at Kabul airport

A t-shirt appearing to mock those, believed to be Afghans, who fell to their deaths fleeing the Taliban after clinging to the outside of a US Air Force transport plane at Kabul airport is being sold online.

Similar designs are being sold on multiple online stores, featuring the words "Kabul Skydiving Club" and showing two humans falling from a C-17, the model involved in the real-life incident.

Below this is text, reading "Est. 2021" at the bottom.

Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, took to Twitter to say: "As Afghans are fleeing and clinging to planes out of desperation, someone decided to capitalize on their pain and misery with this repulsive t-shirt."

Another user, Ahmad Shahverdi said, "Shame on them", with another still writing, "Sick".

On at least one of the sites selling the shirt, the product description refers to the catastrophe that took at least two lives.

Despite this, the description claims to find what happened tragic and to hope those who died are now at peace.

Other dark jokes referencing the event have appeared online.

The US Air Force is investigating how civilians were killed as they tried to cling to an aircraft departing Kabul's airport https://t.co/2pg51cfgQN

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) August 18, 2021

One cryptocurrency tweeter, "BITCOIN MAXIMALIST", posted video of the beginning of the event, with Afghans holding onto the side of the plane, saying: "Nocoiners after #Bitcoin crosses $100,000".

This post did not show anyone falling to their deaths.

"Nocoiners" are those who are not invested in Bitcoin, the popular cryptocurrency currently worth almost $46,000.

On Tuesday the US Air Force announced that it is probing what happened in the incident.