Kabul flea market fire; all lost in rire

KABUL (Khaama Press): A Sunday postmidnight fire at the flea market in Kabul, the Afghan capital, ruined over 80 vendor stalls, leaving millions of Afghanis financial loss.
The raging fire broke out on Sunday, September 18, in the 4th Macrorayan, in the 9th district of Kabul City, completely destroying a section of the fruit and vegetable market, and thrift stores.
The market’s head shopkeeper, Awal Gul, reported 80 fully burned stores and estimated the cost of reconstruction at millions of Afghanis.
When the firemen arrived at the fire site, the head of the shopkeepers claimed that the businesses had already been completely consumed by the fire; nevertheless, had they arrived sooner, some shops could have survived.
The owners of the burned-out businesses also bemoan the firefighters’ tardy arrival. Despite being close to the fire, they claim that the fire department firefighters arrived the scene hours later.
Taliban security authorities have remained silent on the fire’s primary cause, which has not yet been identified.
Shop owners also said that they had no idea what might have started the fire, which resulted in a financial loss of millions of Afghanis.