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Phnom Penh (dpa) - Cambodian firefighters successfully contained a blaze in the fine arts school adjoining the national museum, leaving the museum, which houses thousands of priceless ancient artworks, unscathed, the museum's director said Saturday.
Khun Samen said the blaze started late Friday night in the rear area of the school and only a few hundred metres from the museum but that firefighters quickly contained it.
"The cause is still a mystery. It might have been a cooking fire. They are still investigating. The school was damaged, and they lost some paintings as well as a couple of cars but the museum is not affected," he said.
Electricity was briefly shut off to the area as a number of firetrucks battled the blaze.
Designed by George Groslier and the Ecole des Arts Cambodiens, the National Museum was built in 1917 to a traditional Khmer design and inaugurated in 1920 by King Sisowat. The building remains one of the city's most prized landmarks.
It houses possibly the world's best and most important collection of ancient Cambodian archeological, religious, and artistic artifacts dating from the 4th to the 13th centuries and comprising more than 5,000 pieces, including priceless artifacts from the Angkor era.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
