In pictures: Rio museum destroyed in huge blaze

Brazil's national museum, a 200-year-old building that contained 20 million items in its collection, went up in flames on Sunday night.

A fire burns at the National Museum of Brazil on 2 September 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, BrazilGetty Images

The fire started on Sunday evening, after the building - a 19th-Century former royal palace - had closed for the day.

A fire burns at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on 2 September 2018Reuters

The fire lit up the night sky, and sent plumes of smoke over the city of Rio de Janeiro.

A fire burns at the National Museum of Brazil on 2 September 2018 in Rio de JaneiroGetty Images

One of the largest anthropology and natural history collections in the Americas was almost totally destroyed in the blaze.

Firefighters work as a massive fire engulfs the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro on 2 September 2018AFP

The museum housed thousands of items related to the history of Brazil, as well as artefacts from Egypt, Greco-Roman art and some of the first fossils found in Brazil.

A fire blazes at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on 2 September 2018Reuters

No injuries have been reported.

An aerial photo of the gutted museumAFP/Getty Images

Aerial photos the next morning revealed the scale of the damage to the historic building.

A firefighter sprays water at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on 3 September 2018.Reuters

It is not known what caused the blaze, but officials have blamed lack of funding for the devastation.

Women react a day after a massive fire ripped through the museum on 3 September 2018AFP

The destruction of the museum has been described as a "cultural tragedy".

Demonstrators face the municipal guard in Rio de JaneiroEPA

Demonstrators later gathered in front of the museum to voice their anger at the authorities.

Pictures from Getty Images, AFP, Reuters and EPA

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