Rio’s 200-year-old museum burnt down, includes around 700 Egyptian aretfact

Brazil’s national museum hit by massive fire: Brazil’s 200-year-old national museum went up in flames Sunday night, destroying much of its 20 mn-item collection, according to Bloomberg. Funding cuts and inadequate maintenance were blamed for the fire, which destroyed items including, “Egyptian mummies, dinosaur replicas and one of the oldest human skeletons found in the Americas.” Around 700 Egyptian artefacts including statues, masks and tombs were destroyed in the blaze, according to a Foreign Ministry statement picked up byAl Masry Al Youm.

Naturally, the fire has gotten a lot of attention in the local media. Antiquities Ministry official Mostafa Al Waziri told Hona Al Asema that these artefacts were acquired before Egypt clamped down on the sale of antiquities in the 1980’s. He added that the ministry offered to help Brazil with the restoration (watch, runtime: 5:04).