A historic church in Chile has been destroyed by fire, wiping out centuries of Catholic history.
Despite the efforts of twelve firefighting units on Friday, the mostly wooden San Francisco church could not be saved, local media reported.
In a Facebook post, the church their “deep sadness” at the fire and confirmed that both the secretary and sacristan present at the time were unharmed.
It said: "It is a sad day for our whole community, we give infinite thanks to all the people who helped in the fire that completely destroyed our church and convent.
“We also announce that our secretary and our sacristan who were there at the time are well.”
Built during the Spanish conquest, it was the country’s first Catholic church and home to the region's first Franciscan order. Local reports noted a smaller fire had been extinguished the day before.
Many locals expressed their sorrow on social media, with one user lamenting: “What a pity, we are running out of history,” while others called the fire a “great loss for the cultural and architectural heritage of our nation.”
The investigation continues, with no casualties reported. The church was declared historic patrimony in 1994.