China's tallest wooden pagoda – the Lingguan Tower – destroyed by fire

The Linnguan Tower pagoda in China has been burnt to a crisp after a fire broke out at the world-famous tower, which caused it to collapse.
On the 10th December, a fire broke out in the Lingguan Mansion Buddhist holy site and prayer hall, which is located in Mianzhu City in China, which saw Asia’s tallest wooden tower completely destroyed in the space of a few hours.
The pagoda, which was 16 storeys high, was made out entirely of wood, and it’s thought that the fire close to the top when it started. Monks were seen at the sight praying while the tower, which had huge spiritual significance, burned.
The fire service was on the scene fairly quickly and put the fire out four hours after it emerged, but by that point not only the pagoda had been destroyed, but the prayer hall had, too.
There were no casualties as a result of the blaze, but the cause of the fire is under investigation. The Linguan Mansion pagoda was first put into construction during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) during the reign of Zhu Youjian, otherwise known as the Chongzhen Emperor.
The tower had been through battles before and was badly damaged during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and ultimately had to be restored, however the majority of the complex was still under construction at the time of the blaze.