Tuesday morning, a massive fire broke out at the Natural History Museum located in Delhi near to Mandi House. Nearly 25 fire tenders have been used for dousing the flames. The situation is now brought under control. However, smoke is seen billowing out of the building from top floors.
The museum is situated in the FICCI auditorium premises. Believed to have began from the top floors, the fire gradually spread all through the building. The massive inferno damaged few parts of the FICCI auditorium. The exact cause is not ascertained yet.
Fire Officer, Rajesh Panwar, told ANI that, “Building’s fire safety mechanisms were not working, still we controlled it within 2 hours.”
Atul Garg, Additional Director, Delhi Fire Services said, "We received a call at 1.45 a.m. Initially we sent six fire tenders. Since the fire turned out to be massive, more than 40 fire tenders were required to fight the blaze." The blaze began on one of the upper floors of the museum.
As they were battling the flames, two fire officials were injured seriously. Their condition seems stable at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, the placed to which they were rushed to.
Established in 1972, the National Museum of Natural History in New Delhi is one of the two museums concentrating on nature in India. The National Museum functions under the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Around 34 museums are under the Ministry including ones of ZSI Zoological Survey of India and Botanical Survey of India.
- Sumana
