Holy Shit - major Fire at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio

[malaise]

200 years of history is gone.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2018/sep/03/fire-engulfs-brazils-national-museum-video

[MoonRiver]

1. Horrible!

[Sherman A1]

2. Wondering if that was reported on any of the

US Cable News or Main Stream News Services? I see your link to the Guardian and I read about it very early this AM on the BBC's webpage.

[33taw]

7. It is on CNN

[Hortensis]

12. I first saw this dreadful tragedy in the small hours on TV.

So yes. We all have lost irreplaceable treasures. Most of 20 million items, some also from Egyptian and Greco-Roman history.

"It is an unbearable catastrophe. It is 200 years of this country’s heritage. It is 200 years of memory. It is 200 years of science. It is 200 years of culture, of education.”

[hlthe2b]

3. I saw the alert on that last night... Damn how horrible.

Apparently, maintenance on the building had been lax due to budget cuts?

Irreplaceable. Tragic.

[lpbk2713]

4. Any harm done to a museum is a loss for us all.

And it is a tragic reality that museums don't usually rate high on budgetary priorities.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

5. Anytime human history is demolished it's a real bad day for future humanity. Imagine where

we'd be if the Library At Alexandria didn't burn down?

[CatMor]

6. Awful .....

how sad to lose all that history. Looks like nothing could survive that massive fire.

[Submariner]

8. None of the fire hydrants surrounding the museum worked

I read in another news article.

[Liberal In Texas]

9. It's what you get with austerity.

"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."

[dalton99a]

10. They had to spend $13,100,000,000 on the Olympics

[malaise]

11. Our priorities are

Skewed and screwed