Scientific artifacts are lost in the fire that engulfed Brazil's National Museum, and some local

Up to 20 million pieces of precious artifacts and scientific findings have been destroyed in a fire that has taken one of Brazils oldest museums. Otherwise known as Museu Nacional, the 200-year old building was home to artifacts that served as reference for scientist and historians alike.

The cause of the fire is not yet know, although in the heat of the turmoil, locals are ready to point the finger at their own government for underfunding the museums livelihood.

It has been reported that upon arrival to the fire, two of the fire extinguishers on sight were empty. The limited resources of fire retardants left fire fighters struggling to extinguish the flames, turning to alternate sources like water trucks and lakes.

There have been some artifacts and pieces that were salvaged, like the largest meteor found in Brazil. Although some artifacts that will not be so easy to recover, such as the 11,500 year-old skull of a woman, one of the American bone preservatives discovered. As well as mummies from ancient Egypt, and South America.

The museum was know to have preserved some of Brazils most historic artifacts of native tribes that no longer exist including recordings of languages that are no longer used today. Anthropologist are in mourning of the cultural history that is now lost forever. Carlos Fausto, a professor of anthropology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro stated that these artifacts are "just irreplaceable."