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More than a
hundred firemen battled for about three hours to douse the
flames that broke out early on Tuesday on the top floor of the
National Museum of Natural History.
"The damage is huge," said Rajesh Panwar, deputy chief of the
Delhi Fire Service, adding that some part of the museum was
being renovated and that its fire fighting system was out of
operation.
"If the fire provisions were working, the fire could have been
controlled well in time," he added.
Among the museum specimens was a 160-million-year-old dinosaur
bone, the Times of India newspaper reported.
The extent of the damage would only be known once fire officials
hand back the building to the department that manages the
museum, said federal Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, who
ordered a safety review of India's state-run museums.
The museum, in the heart of New Delhi, is popular with school
children, but the fire broke out several hours before opening
time.
(Reporting by Malini Menon; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and
Clarence Fernandez)
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