Fire Destroys Natural History Museum in New Delhi
By NIDA NAJAR

NEW DELHI — A fire swept through the National Museum of Natural History in New Delhi early Tuesday, spreading downward from the top floor and possibly destroying the 160-million-year-old bones of a dinosaur, local news outlets reported.

“This is a real loss, and we will assess the loss when the building is again handed over to us,” said Prakash Javadekar, the minister of environment and forests. Mr. Javadekar said the ministry, which oversees the museum, would carry out a fire and energy audit of all 34 of its museums in the country.

The building sustained major damage, and most of the museum’s exhibits were destroyed, said Rajesh Panwar, the deputy chief fire officer in New Delhi. They consisted primarily of taxidermied specimens and models of forests and other ecosystems in the three-story exhibition space.

The authorities were investigating the cause of the fire. It began around 2 a.m. in the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry building in central Delhi, which houses the museum, and was doused by 5 a.m.

Mr. Panwar said that the safety mechanisms in the building, including water pumps that would have allowed the firefighters to put out the flames sooner, had not functioned properly.

Buildings in India have long been plagued by aging infrastructure and lax safety standards. Last month, an overpass being built in Kolkata collapsed, killing at least 26 people and leading to a public outcry against the government for the lagging, hazardous project. This month, a building in the state of Kerala housing fireworks was hit by burning debris from a fireworks display at a local temple, leading to explosions that killed at least 106 people.

Rajiv Tyagi, a communications officer at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said that there was a reservoir under the building available for use during fires.

He denied any responsibility for the failure of the water system, saying that was the museum was supposed to look after its maintenance.

文物浩劫！印度博物館大火

位於印度新德里的國立自然歷史博物館，26日凌晨發生大火，消防局調動35台消防車和200多名消防員灌救，4個多小時後才將火救熄，有6名消防員救火時嗆傷送醫。館方表示，館藏幾乎全部付之一炬，大火造成的損失「根本無法估計」。

法新社報導，起火的博物館於1978年開幕，樓高6層，展出不少收集自印度和世界各地的珍貴動植物標本，包括蝴蝶、青蛙、老虎和一個有1億6000萬年歷史的恐龍化石。正在裝修的博物館頂層首先起火，火勢迅速蔓延至其他樓層。

新德里消防局副局長潘瓦爾說，博物館消防安全設備失靈，使消防員更難控制火勢。由於缺乏適當消防標準，印度經常發生大樓火災。環境部長賈瓦德卡爾承諾會徹查火警起因，又下令檢查全國另外34間主要博物館的安全設施是否足夠。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/world/asia/museum-fire-new-delhi.html

Video：Fire Sweeps Through Museum in India
A massive blaze gutted the National Museum of Natural History in New Delhi. Because of the museum's antiquated fire-safety measures, it took the fire department two hours to control the flames.
http://nyti.ms/1NQJOaU

2016-04-28 世界日報 編譯中心