Dozens of oil and gas tankers carrying millions of dollars’ worth of fuel caught fire on Saturday, creating an inferno at Afghanistan’s biggest trade crossing with Iran that killed at least seven.
As the fire burnt into the night, Afghan security services set up checkpoints and were assisting ambulances and emergency vehicles travelling to and from the border crossing to the city of Herat.
The blaze broke out in the early afternoon at Islam Qala port, 120 kilometers from the western city of Herat, engulfing the tankers that were parked nearby after crossing the border.
“There were between 200 and 300 fuel tankers there and we managed to save some, but most have been engulfed and the fire is so huge that nobody can get to within even a kilometer of it,” said Younus Qazi Zada, head of the Herat Chamber of Commerce.
The blaze was so large it was spotted from space by NASA satellites.
“The initial estimate is of millions of dollars of losses, but we have to wait until the fire is extinguished for a proper assessment of damage.”
At least 17 people have been taken to hospital, some of them with serious burns.
The intensity of the flames meant ambulances were having trouble reaching the wounded or getting close to the site of the blast.
Iran’s state-run Irna news agency reported that after the request from Herat’s governor, Iranian “rescue forces and firefighters are under way to extinguish the fire inside Afghanistan,” said Mohsen Nejat, director-general of crisis management in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province.
The blaze spread to the Dogharoon customs post on the Iranian side and first responders – including the fire department, the Iranian army and border forces – were assisting in extinguishing the fire, Iranian state television reported. Trucks carrying natural gas and fuel were directed to leave the scene.
Iran foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the border “was held open for trucks, cars and people running from the fire” towards Iran.
He added that authorities from both countries were helping to tackle the blaze.
By Hussein Jama
February 14, 2021
