CAIRO, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The massive fire that recently hit the National Museum of Brazil destroyed all 700 ancient Egyptian artifacts displayed in the pharaonic hall, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said in a statement Thursday.
"According to a preliminary report, the fire that engulfed all sections destroyed all its artifacts including those in the pharaonic hall, which contained 700 pieces," Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in the statement.
Waziri explained that most of the Egyptian objects in the Brazilian museum were bought by Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil from antiquities traders in the 19th century.
The pieces included five mummies, one of which was offered in its coffin as a gift to Emperor Dom Pedro II by Egypt's ruler Khedive Ismail Pasha during the emperor's visit to Egypt in the 19th century.
The head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said the Egyptian consulate in Brazil was communicating with the museum's Egyptology department chief for a precise description of the damage of the Egyptian artifacts.
Most of the 20 million items at the 200-year-old National Museum of Brazil were destroyed when the museum caught fire on Sunday.
