Massive fire blazes through Brazil’s 200-year old Museum
Rio: In a devastating incident, a massive fire has spread through Brazil’s 200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, which is likely to destroy its collection of more than 20 million items, ranging from archaeological finds to historical memorabilia.
The destruction of the building, once a palace for emperors that had fallen into disrepair, was an “incalculable loss for Brazil,” President Michel Temer said in a statement.
Reportedly, there has been no word of the possible cause, nor if there were casualties or the exact extent of the damage.
The museum was founded in 1818 which had preserved several landmark collections, including Egyptian artefacts and the oldest human fossil found in Brazil.
“We never got anything from the federal government,” an official, Luiz Duarte was quoted in a report.
“We recently finalized an agreement with (state-run development bank) BNDES for a massive investment, so that we could finally restore the palace and, ironically, we had planned on a new fire prevention system,” he added.
