HERAT, Afghanistan (AP) – Investigators have begun sifting through the ruins of a massive fire that destroyed hundreds of fuel tankers parked at a major crossing at the Afghanistan-Iran border, Herat province’s governor in Afghanistan said on Tuesday .
Satellite images of the Islam Qala customs terminal and surroundings analyzed by The Associated Press show the devastation caused by a fire that started on Saturday when a fuel tank exploded. The flames roared out of control for almost three days.
The cause of the explosion and the subsequent fire were not yet determined on Tuesday.
Planet Labs Inc. Satellite Images obtained by the AP shows the burnt shells of hundreds of fuel and natural gas tankers on the Afghan side of the border. Usually there are hundreds of tankers standing between the two countries.
At least 20 people were injured when the blast caused a huge fire that engulfed many of the hundreds of trucks queuing at the border crossing. Officials say there were about 2,500 trucks during the fire. The customs hold area was made to accommodate no more than 700 tankers at a time, but regularly hundreds more people in the area.
Younus Qazizada, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Herat, said Younus Qazizada. A strike by truck drivers protesting against increased government taxes was in the second week.
Herat firefighters with only limited ability said the fire was out of control almost the first moment.
The satellite images show a mass of burnt trucks, the ground around black sung. The fire burned through an area just under half a square mile (a fifth of a square mile). More trucks lined up after the fire and other cars and people apparently gathered at the site on Tuesday.
The intersection, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of the city of Herat, the provincial capital, is an important transit route between Afghanistan and Iran.
The United States allows Afghanistan to import fuel and oil from Iran as part of a special concession that exempts Kabul from US sanctions against Iran.
A third image from December 8, 2020 shows an undisturbed Islam Qala port.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.