Blaze in Tibetan town of Dukezong unlikely arson, authorities say

Authorities in Dukezong, the Tibetan town in Yunnan province that was largely destroyed in a fire over the weekend, said it was unlikely the blaze was started deliberately.

The possibility of arson has been mostly ruled out but an investigation was still under way, Xinhua reported.

Some people living in the town in Shangri-la county, which is about 1,300 years old, have questioned the speed of the response of emergency services.

A 30-year-old woman, who gave her surname as Wang, said that when she arrived at the scene of the blaze at 3am on Saturday, more than an hour after the fire had started, there were only two fire engines in the area. They had not begun spraying water on the flames, she said.

Other residents said firefighters arrived 30 minutes after the blaze broke out.

Chen Tianchang, a fire captain, told Xinhua that firefighters were at the scene in five minutes but that there were delays in tackling the blaze.