The combined photo shows the earth building before and on fire.
(ECNS) -- Dubbed the largest circular earth building in the world, Juening tulou in Zhangzhou city of China's coastal Fujian province was partly destroyed in a fire caused by a psychotic person burning paper money, local media reported.
Juening tulou is a four-storey high and enclosed earth building, circular in configuration. It was built in 1698, during the Qing Dynasty, and took 15 years to finish, Ye Deqing, a senior villager said. It has 55 apartments and houses 20 families, mostly seniors.
Villagers said the fire was caused by a resident psychotic named Ye Yabao, aged 45. He burned paper money in the room after his mother died on Sunday morning.
Without fire extinguishers, villagers used five or six pumps to get water from a well in the middle of the building, with more than 100 people getting involved in battling the blaze ahead of fire fighters turning up.
Another resident also surnamed Ye said altogether 28 apartments belonging to seven families were destroyed, but luckily no one was hurt. Ye Yabao has been sent to a nearby mental hospital.
The local government said it would adopt plans to renovate and protect the building.
In 1988, the culture relic was honored as the largest circular earth building in the world by an expedition team. Photos of the structure have been found on four British postcards issued more than 100 years ago.
