A fire that tore through the underground Bakhtar market in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Friday has wiped out years of traders' work. A representative of the shopkeepers put total losses in the millions of dollars, although no independent damage assessment is available and the cause of the blaze remains unclear.
Sami, who ran 10 of the market's 136 shops, said all the new stock he had recently brought in was lost. "We received a call at 1 p.m. on Friday while we were at prayers, telling us there was a fire in the market," he said. "By the time we arrived, we could not get inside because of the smoke and flames. Everything we had is gone. At least we are safe."
Another trader, Ishaq, said individual shopkeepers had lost between $50,000 and $150,000 each, since some owned four, five or even ten shops.
The fire also hit a travel agency in the market. Its owner, Baryalai Ahmadi, said 36 customers' passports, submitted for Iranian and Saudi visas, were burned. "Their visas were ready, and they were supposed to travel on Sunday, but they could not go," he said. Ahmadi added that the 1 million Afghanis he had invested in the business was also lost.