A mystery blaze has ripped through a massive wooden pagoda and a prayer hall at a Buddhist temple in southwestern China, reducing it to ashes in front of shocked onlookers yesterday.
According to a statement posted to social media by the local government, the fire at the Lingguan Mansion complex in Mianzhu, Sichuan province, started about 12.40pm Sunday (local time) for unknown reasons.
The statement said there were no reports of any casualties and the structure was completely destroyed by the fire which raged for over four hours.
Video posted online shows the 16-storey pagoda engulfed in flame as parts of it fall off, smashing into the ground below.
Horrified onlookers can be heard gasping in shock while watching the structure burn.
The original Lingguan Mansion was built during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) but was destroyed when a magnitude eight earthquake struck Sichuan in 2008, the Chengdu Commercial Daily reports.
The pagoda destroyed in the blaze yesterday was being built to replace the structures lost in the earthquake and was still under construction.
The local government says an investigation is underway into what caused the blaze.
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