6 Rio museums ordered to improve fire systems within 30 days

Rio de Janeiro, Sep 12  A judge in Brazil has ordered six major museums here to improve their security and fire-protection systems within 30 days, said an official.

They are the Museum of the Republic, the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Historical Museum, the Villa-Lobos Museum, the Chacara do Ceu Museum and the Acude Museum.

This comes after the National Museum of Brazil, the oldest in the country, was completely ravaged by a fire on September 2, Efe news reported.

Judge Geraldine Pinto Vital de Castro's order came on a plea from the Public Prosecutor's Office, which on Tuesday requested temporary closure of these six buildings as they lacked the Fire Department's clearance.

However, she considered closing them a step too "drastic".

She though instructed relevant authorities to prepare technical reports on the current conditions of the electric and hydraulic systems in these museums.

The judge ordered "immediate adoption of emergency measures necessary to ensure compliance with minimum safety requirements against fire and panic".

The six museums were inspected after a huge fire completely gutted the National Museum of Brazil destroying most of the 20 million artifacts inside, only 10 per cent survived.