Landmark wooden church severely damaged by blaze

Protected building starts to fall apart as firefighters arrive at site

A 142-year-old Catholic church was severely damaged by a fire on Monday morning in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. The cause is still being investigated.

The fire brigade said the two-hour blaze started at 0:48 am and spread to cover 500 square meters of the Jiangbei Cathedral. The main body of the wooden building was damaged, but no casualties were reported.