A massive fire completely destroyed the iconic National Museum of Natural History in Delhi after it broke out late last night.
Six firemen have been injured in the fire, two are in a critical condition.
The fire broke out at around 1.45 am on the sixth floor of the museum located in the FICCI complex near Mandi House in central Delhi, and quickly spread to all seven floors. A part of it also spread to another building in the complex – the FICCI Auditorium – which has not been damaged much.
Firemen with as many as 35 fire engines were at work through the night to put out the blaze, which was brought under control only around 5 am.
A senior fire officer told NDTV 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.
The museum functions under the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar visited the site this morning and said, “This is tragic, the museum is a national treasure. The loss cannot be quantified.”
Insisting the building belonged to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry or FICCI, he added, “They should conduct fire audit in order to restore damaged properties.”
When the fire broke out, not too many people were inside the building which was being renovated. It was evacuated by the time fire officials arrived.
The injured firemen are at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
A popular venue for school visits, the National Museum of Natural History was set up in 1978 to promote environmental awareness and sees around 1000 visitors everyday.
It had three exhibit galleries – “Introduction of Natural History”, “Nature’s Network: Ecology” and “Conservation”.
The museum had exhibits like herpetological specimen, dinosaurs and mounted animals but it is not yet known how much was lost in the fire.