Governments conflicted over cause of Shangri-La fire

The cause of a fire which destroyed hundreds of homes and devastated an ancient wooden town in Shangri-La, Yunnan province, remains a mystery after the prefecture and local county government issued conflicting statements over the findings of an investigation.

The county government of Shangri-la, where the ancient Tibetan town of Dukezong is located, held a press conference at around 4:30 pm on Monday, to say that the fire on Saturday morning was caused by an electrical fault.

The blaze broke out at the Ruyi Inn, after an electrical fault set a curtain on fire, according to the results of preliminary investigations, said Liu Qiusheng, deputy county head of Shangri-la.

The "careless use of electricity" by the inn manager, surnamed Tang, 41, led to the electrical fault, Liu said. Tang is in police custody.

However, at around 9 pm, the government of Diqing prefecture, which governs Shangri-La, held a press conference on the fire to say that the police were still investigating the cause of the fire.

Qi Xiaodong, deputy police chief of Diqing, said the investigation has only had some progress, and the cause would be released to the public as soon as the results came out.

Qi refused to comment the county announcement, but said that they only recognized their own announcement.

According to the county government, a total of 343 houses were destroyed in the blaze.

Though there were no casualties in the fire, the fire burned down two thirds of the 1,300-year-old town, known for its well-preserved Tibetan homes. Apart from the houses, shops and infrastructure facilities, the fire damaged cultural relics, Tibetan thangka and other Tibetan art.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage on Monday issued a notice to provincial cultural heritage departments, telling them to step up fire precautions in ancient cities, towns and villages.