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Spanish/Nat One of Mexico's most valuable cultural heritage sites was irreparably damaged in last Tuesday's earthquake. Puebla, a U-N world cultural landmark, lost numerous colonial-era churches. Mexico lost some of its most sacred religious monuments in Tuesday's earthquake in Puebla, 60 miles east of the capital, Mexico City. As well claiming the lives of at least 17 people in the town, the quake severely damaged buildings whose baroque, renaissance and Arabic-influenced architecture had been a source of pride generations of Mexicans. Puebla's main cathedral was badly hit - loosened by an earthquake, chunks of brick and plaster were thrown from the baroque dome's graceful arches. Architects say some of the damage to the cathedral - in particular the loss of stonework and tiles - is irreversible. Other historic buildings damaged in Puebla include the San Agustin church, with a bell tower cut in half. Workers shrouded in clouds of dust laboured under hot sun in the city centre on Wednesday, dumping huge piles of debris from the city hall into dump trucks. Tuesday's magnitude 6-point-7 earthquake damaged around 250 buildings, including modern structures. Colonial-era buildings were damaged in other parts of central Mexico as well, including the historic church in nearby Cholula. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "According to the information we've got so far, the temple that has been most damaged is the church in Cholula, the dome which collapsed, and also in the south of the state" SUPER CAPTION: Rafael Tovar y de Teresa, Director of National Council for the Culture and the Arts As of Wednesday, the federal government had pledged almost 50-thousand U-S dollars to help rebuild affected areas. But because Puebla is a U-N cultural landmark, the Mexican government also hopes for aid from UNESCO, the U-N heritage body. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/66dc7a210eeb2bd01240957c89aeeb63 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork