Fire at Gungu museum in Congo: Thousands of artefacts destroyed.

Thousands of historic artefacts were destroyed when a private museum in the Congolese town of Gungu was burned to the ground.

According to the BBC’s Emery Makumeno in Kinshasa, the objects at the National Museum of Gungu represent one of the most important collections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At least 8,000 to 9,000 artefacts from the end of the 18th century were destroyed. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

According to a local official quoted in Congolese media, a museum guard noticed that the building was burning around 23:00 on Thursday night.

Franck Gatola Mungiela has requested that the Ministry of Art and Culture, as well as the Interior and Security Ministries, investigate the cause of the fire in Gungu, Kwilu province, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) south of the capital.