Blaze tears up dozens of tanker trucks, destroys homes and cuts off electricity in much of the capital.
A burning fire that passed through tankers on the northern edge of the Afghan capital of Kabul killed seven people and injured 14 others.
Investigators combed through dozens of burning tankers on Sunday and a gas station caught in the flames that roared in the area on Saturday evening, Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said.
There was no immediate indication of whether the fire was an accident or sabotage. He came the same day the United States and NATO officially started the final phase a withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending a military engagement of almost 20 years.
Every 2,500 to 3,500 US troops and approximately 7,000 NATO Allied forces will be out of Afghanistan by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the United States that first brought them into the United States. country.
Arian said the fire started when a spark ignited a tanker truck. Several nearby tankers were quickly engulfed, sending giant flames and plumes of smoke into the night sky before the blaze spread to several homes and a nearby gas station. Several structures were destroyed and electricity to much of Kabul, which usually only has sporadic power, was cut off.
The injured were mainly treated for burns at local hospitals. Truck drivers blocked the road to the area on Sunday, demanding that the government provide compensation.
‘Vehicle to vehicle’
A driver, Haji Mir, said the explosion was deafening as trucks lined up to enter the city.
“The first explosion sounded like a mine explosion,” he said. “There were flames coming from a truck, then a second truck exploded and a third exploded.” He estimated that up to 100 trucks could have caught on fire.
Dozens of fuel trucks were reportedly destroyed [Rahmat Gul/AP]
Obaidullah, a local resident, said the fireballs were huge. His family and neighbors ran into their gardens.
“The fire lit up the sky,” he says. “The drivers were shouting that their co-pilots were stranded and burning.”
Firefighters arrived at the scene but their capacity was limited and it took hours to bring the blaze under control. On Sunday morning, flames still spouted from the smoldering ruins.
In mid-February, a massive fire broke out on the Afghanistan-Iran border, involving hundreds of trucks and multi-million dollar containers after a truck exploded -tank. At least 17 people were injured.
