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India fire destroys natural history museum in Delhi | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A fire has damaged a museum in the Indian capital, Delhi, destroying rare specimens of flora and fauna, India's environment minister has said. | |
The blaze started on sixth floor of the National Museum of Natural History early on Tuesday and rapidly spread to all seven floors, reports said. | |
More than 30 fire engines tackled the blaze. Six firemen were injured. | |
It is not yet clear what caused the fire at the 38-year-old museum in the heart of the city. | It is not yet clear what caused the fire at the 38-year-old museum in the heart of the city. |
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said officials had yet to determine the full extent of the damage but old collections had been destroyed. | |
"This is a real loss. This loss cannot be counted in rupees. Some very old species of flora and fauna were there," Mr Javadekar was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. | |
A fire officer told the NDTV news channel that the building's "fire safety mechanisms were not working". | A fire officer told the NDTV news channel that the building's "fire safety mechanisms were not working". |
"That is why it took us so long to douse the fire. The cooling off process is still on," he said. | "That is why it took us so long to douse the fire. The cooling off process is still on," he said. |
The museum housed galleries with "herpetological specimens, preserved butterflies, and mounted specimens" of animals, according to its website. | The museum housed galleries with "herpetological specimens, preserved butterflies, and mounted specimens" of animals, according to its website. |
The museum contained preserved specimens of butterflies, frogs, snakes, lizards as well as mounted specimens of tigers and leopards. | |
It was also popular with school children and screened films on wildlife and ecology. | It was also popular with school children and screened films on wildlife and ecology. |
The museum had been criticised for "being badly designed and poorly maintained", and there were plans to move it to a new building at another location. | The museum had been criticised for "being badly designed and poorly maintained", and there were plans to move it to a new building at another location. |