Kandahar fuel market blaze causes 8 million afghanis loss

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): A fire gutted 80 tons of fuel worth eight million afghanis in the main fuel market in southern Kandahar province, officials said on Sunday.

The blaze erupted in the market on the Kabul-Kandahar highway east of the provincial capital at 7:00pm yesterday.

Abdul Qodus Agha, deputy director of fuel traders union, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the fire broke out due to an overheated power generator in fuel reserves.

According to him, due to shortage of electricity, generators are used to transfer fuel from one reserve to another.

He added: “About 80 tons of fuel was burnt in the fire, but  firefighters arrived quickly in the area and extinguished the fire.”

Hafiz Sabir, police spokesman, said that the fire caused eight million afghanis loss, but hundreds of millions of afghanis losses were prevented as the fire was controlled on time.

Asal Mohammad, an oil trader, said: “First, roads to oil or other such important markets should be properly constructed, and secondly, there should be a fire brigade station here, so that when such an incident occurs, it can be controlled quickly.”

Amir Nazir Ahmad, fire management department official in Kandahar, said three more firefighting stations were needed in the city in order to reach fire incidents in every area on time,.

sa/ma

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