The museum’s collection reportedly included more than 20 million items.The cause remains under investigation, and salvage efforts are under way, but the losses appear to be enormous.

Protesters took to the streets denouncing government mismanagement, neglect, and budget cuts that they say have left the museum and other institutions vulnerable to devastating fires and other disasters. 

1. Flames engulf the 200-year-old National Museum of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, on September 2, 2018. 

2. People rescue items during a fire at the National Museum of Brazil on September 2, 2018. 

3. A fire blazes at the National Museum of Brazil on September 2, 2018. 

4. The National Museum of Brazil burns on September 2, 2018, in Rio de Janeiro. 

5. Firefighters work to douse the flames at the National Museum of Brazil on September 2, 2018. 

6. Fire rages inside the National Museum of Brazil on September 2, 2018.

7. People rescue items during the fire at the National Museum of Brazil on September 2, 2018. 

8. Firefighters try to extinguish the museum fire in Rio de Janeiro on September 2, 2018. 

9. Firefighting efforts at the National Museum of Brazil on September 2, 2018 

10. People rescue items from the museum during the fire on September 2, 2018. 

11. People watch as a fire burns at the National Museum of Brazil on September 2, 2018.

12. An aerial view of Rio de Janeiro's treasured National Museum, with the Maracanã Stadium in the background, on September 3, 2018, a day after a massive fire ripped through the building

13. A view of the burned-out National Museum of Brazil on September 3, 2018

14. Looking into the entrance of the National Museum after the fire, on September 3, 2018

15. An aerial view of the damage to the National Museum on September 3, 2018

An aerial view of the burned-out National Museum in Rio on September 3, 2018

16.Looking down into the shell of Rio de Janeiro's treasured National Museum, one day after a massive fire ripped through the building, on September 3, 2018 

17. An aerial view of a burned-out room inside the National Museum of Brazil on September 3, 2018 

18. A firefighter stands at the entrance of the National Museum on September 3, 2018

19. Researchers try to salvage artifacts from the debris a day after a massive fire ripped through the National Museum.

20. A meteorite on exhibit inside the National Museum is visible through a door after an overnight fire in Rio de Janeiro on September 3, 2018.

21. A National Museum worker carries away a piece rescued from the museum on September 3, 2018. 

22. A view inside the burned-out museum on September 3, 2018.

23. Museum staffers and firefighters remove a painting from the museum's debris on September 3, 2018.

24. A staff member reacts outside the National Museum of Brazil on September 3, 2018.

25. People gather to demonstrate outside Rio de Janeiro's treasured National Museum, on September 3, 2018, a day after a massive fire ripped through the building

26. A woman holds a sign reading "Freezing money for science, culture, and education, it's fire" during a protest against the Brazilian government on September 3, 2018, in Rio de Janeiro, following a massive fire that ripped through the National Museum.

27. A woman shouts slogans during a protest against the Brazilian government on September 3, 2018, after the fire that destroyed much of the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.

More about: Brazil   National-Museum   fire