Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - The National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro was hit by a huge fire on Sunday, raising fears that one of South America's most invaluable collections of artifacts may have been destroyed.
Television images showed almost all of the historic building, located in the city's Sao Cristovao locality, in flames.
The building has served as a museum since 1892 and was formerly a residence of the Portuguese royal family and later of Brazil's imperial family.
The bulk of the institution's more than 20 million exhibits may have been damaged in the blaze, according to local media.
"This is a cultural tragedy for Brazil," the museum's director, Paulo Knauss, told broadcaster GloboNews.
"Two hundred years of work, research and knowledge have been lost," President Michel Temer wrote on Twitter. "It's a sad day for all Brazilians."
The National Museum is the South American country's oldest museum and houses extensive geological, botanical, palaeontological and archaeological collections.
The museum hosted the Luzia Woman, which is believed to be one of the oldest skeletons ever to be found in the Americas.
Culture Minister Sergio Sa Leitao spoke of "years of carelessness" regarding the building's maintenance in a televised interview.
The cause of the fire, which broke out outside of the museum's opening hours, and the full extent of the damage were still not known.
About 80 firefighters battled the blaze, bringing it later under control, O Globo news portal reported.
In addition to regional exhibits, the museum houses Egyptian mummies, Greek statues and Etruscan artefacts.
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