KULOB, September 14, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A fire that broke out in a shopping center in Khatlon’s Muminobod district on September 10, at around 2:00 am, seriously damaged the building that houses the call center of the cellular provider Babilon-M, a book shop and a number of food outlets belonging to local private entrepreneurs.

Specialists from Dushanbe who arrived in the district have said that the cause of the fire was arson.

The fire that covered the area of some 250 square meters was put out only in three hours.  Damage caused by the fire to the building was estimated at 200,000 somoni, the source at the Kulob firefighting service said.

According to him, it is already the second shopping center that was burned down in the settlement of Muminobod this month.  The first fire was attributed to an electrical malfunction.