Rescued from Kabul
Loughborough University student who went on Afghanistan holiday airlifted out by British troops
STUDENT Miles Routledge has landed in the United Arab Emirates after a rescue from Kabul, in Afghanistan.
The Loughborough Uni student travelled to Afghanistan on holiday, but has since been evacuated to Dubai.
Mr Routledge posted a video of himself and dozens of others landing in what he described as a British Army plane.
“The happy ending: landed in Dubai thanks to the brilliant people at the British army. All safe!” he wrote. Mr Routledge, a physics student who also works in wealth management, went viral online after posting messages on Facebook, streaming site Twitch and the 4chan discussion board about his trip to the country.
The university said in a statement: “We are aware of reports that one of our students is currently in Afghanistan.
“We are in touch with the student and have offered them our support and continue to monitor the situation closely.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been approached for comment.
On Facebook, one user replied: “Stay safe! Hope the flight went okay.” And a second said on the social media platform on Tuesday: “Glad you made it through.”
While a third commented with: “Fantastic news.”
And a fourth announced: “Great to see. I’ve followed this little saga since your first post. You’ve handled yourself well through this. One of the best happenings on social media ever, and the haters have made it 10 times better, and will no doubt continue to do so.”
Mr Routledge told his followers he likes to explore the “worst places in the world”, including a trip to Chernobyl two years ago.
But he was under the impression insurgents would not take Kabul anytime soon when he booked his latest holiday, which he described as “dirt cheap”.
Mr Routlegde claims he was let go because members of the Islamist militant group did not know where Wales was.
He claimed he was confronted by insurgents near the airport who asked him where he was from. He said he told them he was from Wales rather than say he was British in the hope that they would not realise it is in the UK.
They let him go to proceed on his journey, he added.
Dominic Raab said Britain’s “hearts go out” to the citizens of Afghanistan and described the footage of people at Kabul airport as “distressing”. He said he was not able to confirm how many refugees would be coming to the UK, stating that
Prime Minister Boris Johnson would “set out the details in due course”.