Flames ripped through a centuries-old temple in China almost burning the historic building to the ground.
Crews rushed to the Shandan Great Buddha Temple in Gansu province’s Shandan County in the early hours of Monday morning.
Pictures and video footage posted online show a giant Buddha statue surrounded by flames inside the temple.
After the fire was extinguished, the Buddha statue appeared to remain partially intact, but several temple structures were destroyed.
According to local media reports, the statue was built in 1998 as a replica of an original, which dated back to around 425 AD and was damaged during the Cultural Revolution.
Built in the North Wei Dynasty (386-557), the Giant Buddha Temple has a history stretching back more than 1,500 years.
A statement released on Tuesday confirmed that there were no casualties from the fire and that the temple’s cultural relics remained undamaged.
The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the cultural relics. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, the statement added.
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