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Fire has badly damaged an ancient palace at a "World Cultural Heritage" site at Wudangshan Mountain in central China's Hubei Province, according to sources with the local cultural relics bureau.
The fire, which broke out in the Yuzhengong Palace about 7 p.m. Sunday, was extinguished by about 9:30 p.m. Monday. The major hall in the palace was burnt down and reduced to ashes, and nearby cultural relics were damaged. No people were hurt in the fire.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation at the site by staff members from the Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau and local public security department.
The 600-year-old Yuzhengong Palace, which covered an area of over 50,000 square meters, represents a typical example in late imperial Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) architecture.
(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2003)
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