Firefighters Battle Blaze at Esteemed Rio de Janeiro Museum

A 200-year-old museum in Rio de Janeiro is being engulfed by flames.

Firefighters were working late Sunday to put out a large blaze at the esteemed National Museum in northern Rio. It wasn't immediately clear how the fire began.

News portal G1, citing the museum, reported that nobody was injured and the fire began after the museum had closed for the day. An email sent to the museum late Sunday was not immediately returned.

Sgt. Moises Torres from the state's firefighting headquarters said there was no immediate information about injuries.

According to the museum's website, it has thousands of items related to the history of Brazil and other countries, and is part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.