Blaze destroys million rare library documents in Russia
A major academic library in Russia has gone up in flames, damaging a million unique documents.
The blaze broke out at around 10 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Friday evening on the third floor of the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences (INION) in capital Moscow.
According to Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry, shortly after midnight, firefighters and rescue workers were sent to contain the fire. However, the fire continued burning all Saturday and ravaged 2,000 square meters of INION.
When the fire erupted, library officials were initially certain about the safety of the documents. However, the fire caused 1,000 square meters of the roof to collapse and intense heat in the building did not allow the removal of the books.
Vladimir Fortov, president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that about 15 percent of the documents, which cannot be found elsewhere, have been damaged at the library.
"It's a major loss for science. This is the largest collection of its kind in the world, probably equivalent to the Library of Congress (in the US)," Fortov was quoted as saying.
“A short circuit in the electrical system is currently being regarded as a primary lead,” said a law-enforcement source about the cause of the fire.
INION is the largest research center in the fields of social sciences and humanities in Russia .
The INION library was founded in 1918, and its collection consists above 10 million documents. It also includes one of the richest collections of Slavic language books, as well as 14.2 million texts in both ancient and modern European and Asian languages with some dating back to the 16th century.
MIS/NN/AS
Related stories:
Fire kills 8 at Russia drug rehab center Sun Apr 27, 2014
38 killed in Russia hospital fire Fri Apr 26, 2013
14 Vietnamese workers die in Russia fire Tue Sep 11, 2012
Ukraine launches drone strikes on Russia's energy sites
Russia says will intensify strikes on Western weapons storage in Ukraine
Russia warns of direct confrontation with West over Ukraine
VIDEO | German warship departs Red Sea as EU 'naval mission' fails
VIDEO | Palestinians inspect rubble of destroyed building in Rafah
Yemeni forces strike US, Israeli vessels in fresh pro-Palestinian operations
‘Say no to Biden’: US college being pressed not to endorse genocide
VIDEO | UN: Alarming food insecurity crisis grips Afghanistan
VIDEO | Stuck in quagmire
UK suspends legal assessments of Israeli violations in Gaza
Students protest at US universities to urge end in financial ties to Israel
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
