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Massive fire engulfs Balkh straw market
Three large straw markets, connected to each other, caught fire in northern Balkh province on Tuesday, resulting in huge financial losses to the stall owners.
According to sources, the fire broke out at about 1am on Tuesday morning, and destroyed a number of vehicles along with at least 100 stalls that sold straw and wood.
“Four or five vehicles, shops have been burnt,” said Abul Khaliq, an affected shopkeeper.
Mahmood, another affected shopkeeper said: “Thirty to 40 shops were burned in each market. There are three markets [connected]; fire broke out in the first one and spread to the others.”
Firefighters battled for several hours to extinguish the blaze but managed to stop the fire from spreading to nearby residential areas.
“We extinguished the fire, as you have witnessed. We have saved two-thirds (of the market). If we did not reach it in time, the fire could have spread to residential areas, and fuel stations,“ a firefighter said.
So far, the cause of the fire is not clear but Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan officials said the incident is being investigated.