Huge blaze tears through century-old pier in England

An electrical fault is believed to have started a fire that tore through Eastbourne Pier in East Sussex, England.

The roof of the pier, built in the 1870s, has been completely destroyed, the BBC reports.

No casualties or injuries have so far been reported, with about 80 firefighters needed to tackle the flames.

The pier is a popular wedding venue and one of the most popular piers in Britain.

Eastbourne Borough Council leader David Tutt told the BBC he was hopeful the pier could be repaired.

“The emergency services have done a fantastic job,” he said.

“The face that as far as we’re aware that nobody’s hurt – we’re not aware of anybody unaccounted for – they evacuated the site very quickly and they’ve managed to contain it to that front dome so there’s hope of getting the pier restored.

“My understanding… (is) it looks as if there was a problem with electrics in the wall of the dome between the two layers of the wall there and that seems to be where it started.”