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Brazil's National Museum blaze blamed on austerity cuts amid Olympics spending
Source: The Guardian
Brazil's National Museum blaze blamed on austerity cuts amid Olympics spending
Rising anger at fire that gutted 200-year-old institution, described as ‘lobotomy of Brazilian memory’
Jonathan Watts and Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro, and Sam Jones
Mon 3 Sep 2018 17.06 BST
Funding cuts and inadequate maintenance have been blamed for a devastating fire that tore through Brazil’s oldest and most important historical and scientific museum and is feared to have destroyed much of its archive of 20 million items.
The blaze at Rio de Janeiro’s 200-year-old National Museum began at about 7.30pm local time and raged into the night. There were no reports of injuries, but senior staff have described the loss to Brazilian science, history and culture as incalculable.
By Monday morning, the flames had been extinguished, leaving museum directors to survey the smouldering ruins of Brazil’s heritage. Although they were initially wary of calculating the losses, the gutted building suggests that the toll will be immense.
The museum’s impressive assets included Egyptian and Graeco-Roman artefacts, fossils, dinosaurs and “Luzia”, at 12,000 years old, the most ancient in the Americas.
-snip-
While the cause of the blaze is still under investigation, government cuts and inadequate fire protection systems have been cited as key factors. Rio’s fire chief, Roberto Robaday, told the Guardian the two hydrants nearest the museum were dry, delaying efforts to douse the flames.
In recent years, the government has spent billions on the Olympics and major construction projects that generated kickbacks for politicians, but it has slashed spending on culture and education in the name of austerity.
-snip-
Rising anger at fire that gutted 200-year-old institution, described as ‘lobotomy of Brazilian memory’
Jonathan Watts and Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro, and Sam Jones
Mon 3 Sep 2018 17.06 BST
Funding cuts and inadequate maintenance have been blamed for a devastating fire that tore through Brazil’s oldest and most important historical and scientific museum and is feared to have destroyed much of its archive of 20 million items.
The blaze at Rio de Janeiro’s 200-year-old National Museum began at about 7.30pm local time and raged into the night. There were no reports of injuries, but senior staff have described the loss to Brazilian science, history and culture as incalculable.
By Monday morning, the flames had been extinguished, leaving museum directors to survey the smouldering ruins of Brazil’s heritage. Although they were initially wary of calculating the losses, the gutted building suggests that the toll will be immense.
The museum’s impressive assets included Egyptian and Graeco-Roman artefacts, fossils, dinosaurs and “Luzia”, at 12,000 years old, the most ancient in the Americas.
-snip-
While the cause of the blaze is still under investigation, government cuts and inadequate fire protection systems have been cited as key factors. Rio’s fire chief, Roberto Robaday, told the Guardian the two hydrants nearest the museum were dry, delaying efforts to douse the flames.
In recent years, the government has spent billions on the Olympics and major construction projects that generated kickbacks for politicians, but it has slashed spending on culture and education in the name of austerity.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/03/brazils-national-museum-blaze-blamed-on-austerity-cuts-amid-olympics-spending
5 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
A fire has claimed the vast majority of more than 20 million artifacts at Brazil's biggest museum. Police deployed tear gas to control crowds who were demanding entry to inspect the damage.
Date 03.09.2018
The flames finally went out at Brazil's National Museum in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, after the loss of most of its more than 20 million artifacts. As Brazilian police used tear gas and pepper spray to keep back angry crowds surrounding the ruins and trying to force their way in, officials from the museum said that the dangers had been well known.
Vice Director Luiz Fernando Dias Duarte told Brazilian TV that the risk of fire was so present in museum employees' minds that they would unplug everything in their offices every day, and that they had recently been given training from firefighters on how to handle an emergency. Duarte said that the damage to the collection was extensive, saying highly heat-resistant meteorites were among the few items to survive.
The blaze, the cause of which remains unknown, began on Sunday evening and destroyed the museum's collections of art and artifacts dating all the way back to ancient Egypt, including the oldest human skull ever found in the western hemisphere. The museum also housed a comprehensive collection on Brazilian history, from Portuguese colonization in the 1500s until independence in the 1800s.
"It's not enough just to cry, it is necessary that the federal government, which has resources, helps the museum to reconstruct its history," museum director Alexandre Keller said in front of the burned-out building.
More:
https://www.dw.com/en/fire-risks-were-known-says-brazil-national-museum-employee/a-45337811