A massive fire that began with a tanker truck carrying fuel in the Shakar Dara district of Kabul along the highway connecting the capital with northern provinces has inflicted heavy damage to vehicles and nearby houses as residents described.
This led to a protest by residents of the area who closed the highway to traffic for many hours on Sunday.
The fire first erupted in a tanker truck that was parked among dozens of others in a line waiting to enter Kabul.
Owners of the fuel tanker trucks said they are often stopped like this by security forces and officials before they enter Kabul. They said it has been one of their main concerns for a long time.
Mohammad Mokhtar, a resident of the Qala-e-Murad Bek district in Shakardara where the fire broke out, said he built his house after years of extreme effort, but everything was burned by last night’s fire.
“Which law allows tanker trucks containing gas and fuel to park near people’s houses? If we don’t know as members of the public, the government knows it,” Mokhtar said.
Unconfirmed figures by the residents show that at least 100 houses were damaged in the Qala-e-Murad Bek area. A restaurant, a fuel station, many shops and many vehicles that were passing through have been damaged in the fire.
Unconfirmed figures show that dozens of tanker trucks were burned in the fire.
“We suggested many times to transfer the checkpoint from here, but no one heard our voice, including in the Shakardara district governor’s office,” said Jamshid, a resident of Qala-e-Murad Bek.
“We ask the government to look after these people. Now all have lost many things,” said a resident of Qala-e-Murad Bek, a village north of the city of Kabul.
Other residents said that the government has failed to build a parking slot for the fuel tankers to ensure their safety. Now trucks park in a line near the entrance gate of Kabul.
“This is not a proper place because there are many residential houses around. The (Kabul) governor issued orders many times, but they were not implemented,” Shakardara district governor Gawhar Khan Baburi said.
Trucks carrying goods also park near the entrance gate leading into Kabul.