Shangri-La tourist town destroyed by fire
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A major fire has destroyed hundreds of houses in an ancient Tibetan town in southwest China’s Shangri-La county.
The Xinhua news agency reports that the blaze broke out at the Ruyi Inn guesthouse in town of Dukezong, Yunnan province, in the early hours of Saturday morning, and quickly spread to surrounding buildings. By the time the blaze was extinguished approximately nine hours later, 240 houses had been damaged and 2,600 residents evacuated.
Most of the buildings in Dukezong are made of wood, in the traditional Tibetan style. Authorities said that along with damage to buildings, some ancient artefacts and works of Tibetan art were also destroyed. Fortunately nobody was injured in the fire.
With a history dating back 1,300 years, Dukezong is now a popular tourist destination in Shangri-La county, which was renamed after the fictional Himalayan paradise.
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