terrible news
SKorea Landmark Gate Collapses in Fire
)
Firefighters extinguish a fire at Namdaemun, South Korea's 'No.
Firefighters extinguish a fire at Namdaemun, South Korea's 'No. 1 national treasure', in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 11, 2008. About 80 firefighters were fighting to bring the blaze under control and it was not known whether there are any casualties, they said, adding that the cause of the fire has yet to be determined. Namdaemun, literally 'the great southern gate,' was the southern gate of the original walls surrounding Seoul during the Joseon Dynasty. The construction of this gate began in 1395.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (Ahn Young-joon - AP)
The Associated Press
Sunday, February 10, 2008; 7:44 PM
SEOUL, South Korea -- A 610-year-old gate regarded as South Korea's top cultural landmark collapsed after catching fire Sunday night.
The fire burned the wooden structure on the top of Namdaemun _ the gate of a wall that once encircled the capital and is known as South Korea's national treasure.
Police have not determined determine what caused the fire, Sohn Young-jin, a police official, said Monday. He did not give further details.
The South Korean government opened the landmark gate, officially named Sungnyemun, to public in 2006 for first time in nearly a century.
The gate had been off-limits to the public since Japanese colonial authorities built an electric tramway nearby in 1907. Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula in 1910-45.
The gate was renovated in the 1960s and again in 2005.