Brazil's 200-year-old national museum hit by huge fire

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Brazil's 200-year-old national museum hit by huge fire - BBC News

A huge fire has engulfed the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, the oldest scientific institution in the country.

Firefighters are tackling the blaze at the building, which contains more than 20 million items in its collection.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Thread by a very passionate Brazilian.

The National Museum of Rio is currently being consumed by flames. Over 20 million historical items are being lost before our eyes. I am so sad that I'm crying while I watch this. pic.twitter.com/C1XrwBLk3v

— Marina Amaral (@marinamaral2) September 3, 2018

[JoeP]

Brazil museum fire: ‘incalculable’ loss as 200-year-old Rio institution gutted | World news | The Guardian

It sounds like a victim of austerity in Brazil. Some of the fire hydrants didn't even have water. They had to bring in water trucks.

[Luiz Duarte, another vice-director] said that governments were to blame for failing to support the museum and letting it fall into disrepair. At its 200th birthday in June, not one state minister appeared. “For many years we fought with different governments to get adequate resources to preserve what is now completely destroyed,” he said. “My feeling is of total dismay and immense anger.”

Some Brazilians saw the fire as a metaphor for their country’s traumas as it battles terrifying levels of violent crime and the effects of a recession that has left more than 12 million people unemployed.