KABUL, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) — Several shops turned to ashes as a massive fire engulfed a market in a main business hub in central Kabul Saturday morning, police said.

“The fire started at around 10:00 a.m. local time in a plastic shoes market inside Kabul Mandawi, the main business center in the city, causing serious damages to the shops but no casualties took place by the incident,” a police officer told Xinhua near the site.

“First, a one-storey footwear and plastic shoes market caught fire but the fire has penetrated to the neighboring cosmetic wholesale market. Dozens of shops and storehouses were destroyed and turned to ashes. The damages could be millions of afghani,” a shop owner, Ahmad Fawad, told Xinhua. Fawad said that hundreds of shops around the area escaped the fire as the fire fighters had brought the situation under the control. The authorities have launched an investigation into the incident while shop owners said that the surprising incident was apparently caused by carelessness.(Xinhua)…[+]