Fire devastates village of primitive tribe in Southwest China; no injuries

The fire broke out at 5:40 p.m. local time (0940 GMT) on Sunday in Wengding village, inhabited by the Wa ethnic group, and was completely extinguished by rescue teams by around 1 a.m. on Monday, the Yunnan government said in a statement.

A fire on Sunday swept through a village in a remote part of southwest China's Yunnan province that is home to the country's last remaining primitive tribe, causing damage to traditional lodgings but no casualties. The fire broke out at 5:40 p.m. local time (0940 GMT) on Sunday in Wengding village, inhabited by the Wa ethnic group, and was completely extinguished by rescue teams by around 1 a.m. on Monday, the Yunnan government said in a statement. It said the cause of the blaze was under investigation.

Footage from state broadcaster CGTN showed dozens of straw huts ablaze in the village, with plumes of thick smoke drifting across the landscape. The Global Times, a tabloid published by China's official People's Daily, said only four of 105 huts in the village remained intact following the blaze.

Many of the structures built by the Wa, who also live in northern Myanmar, were designated as cultural relics by Yunnan province in 2012, the newspaper added.