HERAT, Afghanistan, June 17 (Xinhua) -- A fire broke out at a big market, engulfing nearly 200 shops, in Afghanistan's western Herat province, Abdul Wadood Faizzada, the provincial head of craftsmen union said Saturday.
"The fire broke out at about 3 a.m. local time at Qasr-e-Herat market in 2nd Municipality District of the Herat city, engulfing 200 shops of different commodities, mostly clothes and cosmetics, costing 100 million Afghanis (about 1,163,000 U.S. dollars)," Faizzada told Xinhua.
Abdul Latif Insaf, the provincial police spokesperson, said that the blaze, resulting from electrical sparks, occurred Friday midnight but was controlled by the fire department personnel within hours.
"The fire left no casualties or injuries but inflicted heavy property losses on the local businesspersons," said the spokesman.
