Fire at the “Guliston” market in Sughd region

On the night of November 12, a major fire occurred at the “Guliston” market in the city of Penjikent, consuming a large part of the market.

According to the State Fire Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, 280 trading points and 20 shops were burned in the fire in Penjikent.

According to the agency, the fire started around 10:10 PM on November 12 at the entrance to the market, covering an area of 792 square meters, and was extinguished only 4 hours later.

According to official data from the authorities, goods and property worth more than 27 million somoni were saved during the fire. Fortunately, no human casualties were reported. A special group is currently investigating the causes of the fire.

This is not the first case of markets in the country being completely burned down. In recent years, dozens of fires have occurred at several markets across the country, resulting in entrepreneurs losing millions of somoni. In most cases, authorities claim that fires occur in markets due to violations of fire safety regulations or due to short circuits, but in almost all cases, issues of compensation for losses to entrepreneurs and the resumption of their activities remain a point of contention between the authorities and those affected by the fire. The entrepreneurs themselves do not rule out the possibility of intentional arson of the markets in these cases. They also believe that the responsibility lies with the market administrations, which failed to provide the necessary conditions to prevent such situations.

It is still unknown whether the traders at the “Guliston” market will receive compensation for the damages incurred. However, previously, entrepreneurs whose trading points were destroyed by fire reported that no agency compensated them for their losses, leading to the bankruptcy of their businesses.