New Delhi: A charter plane with more than 100 Americans and U.S. green card holders evacuated from Afghanistan was denied permission to land in the United States by the Department of Homeland Security, organizers of the flight informed Reuters.
"They will not allow a charter on an international flight into a U.S. port of entry," Bryan Stern, a founder of non-profit group Project Dynamo was quoted by Reuters in its report. Bryan is stuck with his fellow passengers for 14 hours at Abu Dhabi airport after arriving from Kabul, Afghanistan.
The plane was chartered from Kam Air, a private Afghan airline. It is carrying 117 people, including 59 children.
An anonymous administration official informed Reuters that the US government usually take time to verify the manifests of charter planes before clearing them to land in the United States.
Earlier, last month, US President Joe Biden said that it is a top priority for his government to bring back the Americans and US green card holders who are unable to evacuate Afghanistan. Previously on Monday, a senior State Department official had confirmed that the United States was aware of around 100 American citizens and legal permanent residents willing to leave Afghanistan.
"Twenty-eight Americans, 83 green card holders and six people with U.S. Special Immigration Visas granted to Afghans who worked for the U.S. government during the 20-year war in Afghanistan were aboard the Kam Air flight," Byran said.
(With inputs from Reuters.)