Fire engulfs Japan's World Heritage-listed Shuri Castle
A fire tore through Japan's World Heritage-listed Shuri Castle on Thursday, reducing the main hall of the more than 500-year-old landmark to a skeleton.
Emergency responders on the southern island of Okinawa received the first call around 2:47 a.m. (1747 GMT), public broadcaster NHK said, and firefighters were still battling the flames into the daylight hours.
"The main hall has burned down and the castle's dragon monuments have been blackened," Japanese media quoted Mikiko Shiroma, mayor of Naha city where the castle is located, as saying.
"This is truly regrettable".
