Brazilians Mourn Loss of Most Important Museum
里约热内卢国家博物馆失火
Firefighters battled throughout the night to extinguish the fire that began after the museum closed to the public on Sunday night. The 200 year old institution which is part of Rio de Janeiro's Federal University contained 20 million items including some brought to Brazil by Portuguese rulers at the beginning of the 19th century.
周日晚上博物馆对公众关闭后起火，消防队员彻夜奋战灭火。这个有200年历史的机构是里约热内卢联邦大学的一部分，馆藏2000万件物品，其中一些是19世纪初葡萄牙统治者带到巴西的珍贵文物。
It's our history that was stored here, our scientific history, our academic history, the heritage from the imperial period. It's an irreparable loss.
保存在这里的是我们的历史，我们的科学史、学术史还有帝国时期的遗产。这是一个不可挽回的损失。
The museum was also home to a 12000 year old human skeleton, the oldest found on the continent, as well as dinosaur skeletons fossils and meteorite found in 1784. A local fire chief said experts will be brought in as soon as possible to salvage what they can from the ashes.
博物馆里还有一具12000年前的人类骨骼化石，这是欧洲大陆发现的最古老的骨骼化石，以及1784年发现的恐龙骨骼化石和陨石。当地一位消防队长说，将尽快派专家从废墟中抢救出他们能抢救出的东西。
We're going to have the participation of museum employees. It will be a slow process, so that we can, who knows, recover fragments something that could still have historic value.
将会有博物馆员工的参与。这将是一个缓慢的过程，这样我们就可以恢复一些文物碎片，这些东西仍然具有历史价值。
A museum curator was allowed to enter Monday to collect what remained of the museum's meteorite exhibits. So the artifacts would not be confused with the charred remains of the building.
周一，博物馆管理员被允许进入博物馆收集剩余的陨石展品，这样文物就不会与烧焦的建筑残骸混淆。
They let me enter because I could recognize the pieces. I knew where they were and I could recover some of them from the ashes.
他们让我进去，因为我能认出这些碎片。我知道他们在哪里，我能从灰烬中找到一些。
Some of the collections were stored in another building, but most of those archived in the museum are believed to have been destroyed.
其中一些藏品被存放在另一栋大楼里，但据悉，博物馆中保存的大部分藏品已被烧毁。
It's a tragedy yes it is. We have to go through a period of mourning, but we have to think what now. It doesn't help just to cry.
这是一个悲剧，是的。我们必须经历一段哀悼期，但我们现在必须考虑一下。哭也无济于事。
Museum director Alexander Kellner said, the federal government's help is needed to aid in recovery efforts.
博物馆馆长亚历山大·科尔纳说，需要联邦政府的帮助来进行救援恢复工作。
Brazil can't lose its history.
巴西不能丢掉自己的历史。
Many Brazilians blame the government for failing to secure funds needed to maintain the museum and they came out Monday to express their anger. The devastating fire hit one of Latin America's oldest and largest museums, as Brazil battles economic recession high unemployment and violent crime.
许多巴西人指责政府未能获得维护博物馆所需的资金，他们周一出面表达了自己的愤怒。这场毁灭性的大火袭击了拉丁美洲历史最悠久、规模最大的博物馆之一，而此刻巴西正在与经济衰退、高失业率和暴力犯罪作斗争。
Zlatica Hoke VOA News Washington.
美国之音记者扎拉迪卡·霍克华盛顿报道。