One Delaware County woman is clearing out her guest room for her son and his family who have left Afghanistan as part of the Afghanistan evacuation, writes Ellie Rushing and Oona Goodin-Smith for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Philadelphia-born businessman Amir, his wife, and their 20-month-old daughter were placed on a flight out of Afghanistan Wednesday.

Amir called his mother Khadijah in Delaware County Thursday morning via WhatsApp to let her know they were safely on their way to Qatar.

Amir’s family made two attempts to get to the Kabul airport after being cleared for evacuation from the U.S. State Department.  

The first was Saturday, but the family was trapped by the throng of people at the airport.  Amir’s wife covered her daughter’s eyes as they walked over bodies of the dead.

“This didn’t have to happen this way,” Khadijah said.

Janet Hinshaw-Thomas directs a Havertown-based nonprofit,  PRIME — Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees, that offers legal counsel to refugees.

 Her ex-husband, Anwar, 82, his wife and 6-year-old daughter were also part of the Afghanistan evacuation. They made it to Kabul airport Wednesday but have been waiting  for 12 hours with no information.

Anwar uses a wheelchair, is deaf and vision-impaired, and has a pacemaker.

 “Their lives are in danger if they stay there,” she said.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer the Afghan evacuations.

Follow the unfolding situation in Afghanistan with this video from Friday.