The tower of a 600-year-old pagoda in Hanoi was totally destroyed in a big fire that broke out Thursday (27 January), local news website VnExpress reported.

Witnesses said they noticed that the Tao Sach Pagoda in Tay Ho District was on fire at around 4a.m.

Local firefighters took nearly two hours to extinguish the fire, the news source said.

Three firefighters were injured and rushed to hospital during the operation.

The pagoda’s Tam Bao tower is said to have been destroyed, but the cause of the fire is still unknown.

Tao Sach, a national heritage site, was built in the 15^th century. It stores many ancient materials in Chinese and Nom (an old Vietnamese writing system based on Chinese characters) scripts and other valuable vestiges.

The fire is being investigated further, police said.