Nangarhar market blaze causes losses worth 3m afs

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): A fire that broke out in Jalalabad City, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, has resulted in financial losses worth three million afghanis.

However, officials have said that thanks to the quick response of the fire-fighting team, goods worth 50 million afghanis were saved from being consumed by the flames.

The incident occurred on Saturday night in a basement at Talashi Square in Jalalabad, located in the 2nd police district, which is home to one of the largest mobile phone markets in the city.

The fire is believed to have been caused by an electrical short circuit.

Sayed Tayeeb Hamad, the police spokesman for Nangarhar, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the fire-fighting team arrived promptly at the scene and managed to control the blaze.

He added that while there were no casualties, two firefighters were rendered unconscious due to smoke inhalation. Fortunately, their condition is now stable.

According to Hamad, the fire destroyed goods worth three million afghanis, including mobile phones and other items. However, goods worth 50 million Afghanis were salvaged.

Meanwhile, residents of Jalalabad have called on provincial authorities, particularly the electricity department, to better regulate the power systems in such critical and crowded areas and ensure continuous monitoring.

Mohammad Anwar, a resident of the Angor Bagh area, said that a properly organized electricity system could prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.

Shopkeepers in the affected area are now urging the government for assistance to help them recover from their losses and resume business operations.

Rahmat Khan, a local shopkeeper, told Pajhwok that the provincial government should help them recover from the damage inflicted by the fire so they can get their businesses up and running again.

Jalalabad city suffers from an unstable electricity supply, and many shops, in addition to relying on government-provided electricity, also depend on generators and solar power.

The messy and excessive number of power cables in the markets has led to incidents like this on occasion.

hz/sa