Fire causes damage at another World Heritage site in Japan

A fire damaged at least one building at a World Heritage site in Japan on Monday, a fire department official said, just days after a blaze destroyed much of another Japanese World Heritage site, on its southern island of Okinawa. Monday's fire broke out at a site featuring traditional gassho-zukuri houses in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, a fire department official said. The houses were built hundreds of years ago and are known for their thatched roofs.

The official said the fire was out and the damage was very limited. The cause was not known and the official declined to say how many buildings were damaged.

Videos posted to social media showed firefighters hosing down one of the gassho-zukuri houses, which was engulfed in flames. Last week, a fire destroyed much of Shuri Castle, a World Heritage site on Japan's southern island of Okinawa.