A fire broke out at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro which ravaged the 200-year-old structure, media reports said on Monday.

The National Museum is one of the largest natural history and anthropological museums in Brazil.

There had been complaints about the dilapidated state of the museum in recent times.

"We never had adequate support," its deputy director was quoted as saying by BBC.

Presidential candidate Marina Silva criticised the issue of lack of investments and tweeted: "Unfortunately, given the financial shortage of UFRJ and the other public universities in the last three years, this was an announced tragedy."

Brazil's President Michel Temer has expressed his sadness over the damaged caused to the building due to the fire.

"Incalculable to Brazil the loss of the collection of the National Museum. 200 years of work, research and knowledge have been lost. The value of our history cannot be measured by the damage to the building that housed the royal family during the empire. It's a sad day for all Brazilians," he tweeted in Portuguese.

Brazil's Culture Minister Sergio Sa Leitao was quoted as saying by BBC that it was a "tragedy that could have been avoided" but a reconstruction effort would begin.

Image: Paulo R C M Jr/Wikipedia