The National Museum of Natural History in FICCI building in Central Delhi an iconic land mark for Delhi, was destroyed into ashes after a major fire broke out in the late night hours on Tuesday.
Fire was so violent that six firemen have been injured in the fire, two are in a critical condition,they were injured during the fire fight.
The fire broke out around 1.45 AM on the top floor of the museum, located in FICCI Building in Mandi House, where some repair work was underway as a part of maintenance .
Soon, it quickly spread to all other floors of the building;continues to burn it all are lost.
A senior fire officer said that the building’s fire safety mechanism was not working as they doubt it.
“This is why it took us so long to douse the fire. The collocating off process is still underway”, he said.
Delhi Fire fighters rushed to the location with as many as 35 fire tenders were pressed into service. It took firefighters all most more than four hours to douse the heavy blaze; after which a post fire cooling operation was launched; which lasted for another few hours, a fire official said.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, a senior police official said.
Luckily there were not too many people in the building, which was evacuated by the time fire officials reached at the scene. No human loss reported till now.
Top officials of the police range and Delhi Fire Services rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. The damage caused by the fire is being estimated.
Established in 1972, the National Museum of Natural History in New Delhi is one of two museums focusing on nature in India. It functions under the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Artifacts and part of History lost for the Naturalist and Anthropologist a black day in the history. There should have been more strict fire fighting system in place in all the museum across the country, after all artifacts are not going to return as originals.