A joint local board in Herat province says in Wednesday’s fire at the Herat Customs facility, 40 vehicles carrying commercial goods were completely burnt.

Speaking at a gathering in Herat, the board members said they have done preliminary investigations, but the cause of the fire is still unknown.

“The cause of this incident is still unknown, a joint board from the police command and intelligence agency have started investigating this incident to find the culprit,” said Mohammad Hamid Ahmad, head of Herat Customs.

“Unfortunately, the loss has been high and we have come here to investigate and do a survey,” said Nooruddin Torabi, head of the Directorate of Natural Disasters.

Traders shared their demands with local officials and the private sectors at the gathering.

According to them, the negligence of Herat customs officials caused the fire incident.

“Our suggestion to the government is that a specific board should be appointed regarding this incident,” said Mohammad Yunus Momand, Deputy Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment.

Meanwhile, some traders said that there are not enough facilities in the country’s customs, while millions of dollars of commercial property are in the warehouses of these offices.

They added that there are no firefighting facilities and a standard system has not been built to preserve and maintain the property of traders.

“The hangars built here are not standard,” said Mohammad Latif, a vulnerable trader.

However, the exact amount of damage left by this fire is not yet known.

The traders have expressed their concern and said that three years ago, there was a fire at Islam Qala Customs, but no one received compensation.