Afghan refugees who evacuated to Germany say they had to leave their families behind to flee the Taliban takeover

• Refugees who evacuated Afghanistan and were taken to Germany described the experience to Reuters.
• They said they fear they may never see their relatives again.
• Crowds of refugees rushed to Kabul's airport in recent days in hopes of evacuating Afghanistan.

Refugees who evacuated Afghanistan this week and were taken to Germany said they left family members behind in order to flee the Taliban takeover.

The refugees, who arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, were evacuated from Tashkent by NATO soldiers.

They told Reuters that they fear that they may never see their relatives again.

"Everyone wants out," one man told Reuters, speaking on a condition of anonymity in fear of retaliation from the Taliban. "Every day is worse than the day before. We saved ourselves but we couldn't rescue our families."

Crowds of Afghans have rushed to Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport in recent days in hopes of evacuating the country.

Photos and videos of the chaos show people climbing a jet bridge to get on to a plane, clinging to the outside of a C-17 plane, and falling from a plane in the sky.

At least 12 people have died at the airport since Sunday, the day the Taliban took control of Kabul, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing NATO and the Taliban.

NATO previously said that at least 17 people were injured in a stampede at a gate of the airport.