Police in Samoa are investigating a fire which destroyed the Princess Tui Inn at Vaiala.
The Samoa Observer says firefighters struggled for hours to try to control the blaze but nothing could be salvaged.
The building dated back to 1848 and was among the oldest structures surviving from the colonial era.
In the 1980s, the building served as a restaurant, then it was used as living quarters for government CEOs before it was sold to a hotel developer, George Hadly, who turned it into an inn.
