Fire guts Delhi's natural history museum

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/26/massive-fire-guts-delhis-natural-history-museum

Fire guts Delhi's natural history museum

Tuesday 26 April 2016 01.59 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 26 April 2016 03.36 EDT

A fire has gutted India’s National Museum of Natural History in Delhi, one of the country’s top museums. Harinder Singh, a fire official, said 35 firefighters took more than four hours to douse the blaze, which started early on Tuesday on the top floor of the six-storey museum.

Five firefighters were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation and later released. Singh said the entire building was gutted by the blaze, which is believed to have started in the early hours of the morning.

The environment minister, Prakash Javadekar, said the damage caused to the museum was being assessed but added that old and rare collections had been destroyed. He said: “This is a real loss. This loss cannot be counted in rupees. Some very old species of flora and fauna were there.”

An investigation into the cause of the fire has been ordered. Rajesh Panwar, Delhi’s deputy chief fire officer, said the museum’s fire safety equipment had not been functioning properly, making it more difficult for firefighters to finally bring the blaze under control.
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