Fire breaks out at German dinosaur museum

Frankfurt: The Senckenberg Museum of natural history in Frankfurt said on Saturday that it would remain closed until Wednesday for minor repairs and clean-up efforts following a fire overnight on Friday.

Frankfurt's fire department said on Saturday that it had been called to the museum just after midnight.

"During the examination in the building, emergency workers established smoke contamination and naked flames in a smaller room on the ground floor," the fire department said. "There was fire there, close to electrical cables."

Once people with specialist equipment arrived, the fire could be extinguished in a matter of minutes, the department said.

Six emergency vehicles and around 20 personnel were deployed for the operation. Police said standard investigations into how the fire broke out had begun but made no mention of suspected foul play.

The natural history museum, in the western city of Frankfurt, is perhaps best known for the large Tyrannosaurus Rex display outside the building, and for its dinosaur skeletons and well-preserved fossilized remains of an Edmontosaurus.

Senckenberg Museum said the fire "was fortunately quickly extinguished."

"But to remove the smoke and repair the technical damage, the museum remains closed up to and including Wednesday, March 1, 2023. T-Rex & Co. are doing well, the exhibition rooms were not affected," the museum wrote on its website.