The Brazilian National Museum in Rio was devastated by fire

The fire broke out on Sunday around 7:30 PM local time (today 0:30 CEST), after visiting hours had ended, and spread throughout the building. No deaths or injuries have been reported so far. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are also unknown. The museum, founded in 1818, houses several significant collections, including Egyptian artifacts and the oldest human fossil found in Brazil.

Deputy Director of the museum Luiz Duarte admitted today that he feels "deep sorrow" and "enormous anger." "All the historical archives that were kept in the central sector of the building have been completely destroyed. 200 years of history are gone," lamented Duarte.

Firefighter spokesman Roberto Robadey reported that 80 firefighters responded at the scene, and some items from the collections were salvaged with the help of museum staff. However, the response was slow because two fire hydrants nearest to the museum were not functioning. Trucks had to be sent for water from a nearby lake.

According to Brazilian media, the fire destroyed collections and archives of great value. A spokesperson for the firefighters told AFP that the fire spread very quickly because there is a lot of flammable material in the museum.

Aerial footage from TV Globo shows how flames ravaged the majestic building, covering an area of 13,000 square meters in the northern part of Rio within a few hours. Despite the rapid dispatch of firefighters, the fire engulfed hundreds of museum halls and destroyed everything in its path.

Brazilian President Michel Temer marked Sunday as a tragic day for Brazil. "Two hundred years of work, research, and knowledge are lost," the head of state stated in a press release.

In an interview with Globo, Duarte stated that Brazilian governments had neglected the museum for years and that it suffers from a lack of financial resources. "We recently signed an agreement with the state development bank BNDES for a significant investment in the restoration of the building. Ironically, we were planning a new fire protection system," Duarte disclosed.

In June, the bank stated on its website that it had agreed to provide 21.7 million real (115 million CZK) for the restoration of the historic building and to ensure greater security for the collections.

Brazilian Minister of Culture Sérgio Sá Leitao later admitted that "the tragedy could have been prevented" and that "the problems had been accumulating over time." The minister recalled that in 2015, under the government of leftist President Dilma Rousseff, the museum was closed "due to a lack of funds for its maintenance."

The Brazilian National Museum was founded in 1818 by King John VI of Portugal. It is one of the oldest and most significant museums in Brazil and is also a major cultural and scientific institution for all of Latin America.

On its website, the museum states that the building houses, among other things, an Egyptian collection, collections of art and Greco-Roman artifacts, or paleontological collections that include, in addition to the oldest human skeleton from Brazil, a dinosaur skeleton found in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.