85,000 museum artifacts in jeopardy after fire in New York

Some 85,000 artifacts from the Museum of Chinese in America are in jeopardy after a fire struck a Chinatown building in New York City (NYC).

The fire on Thursday night struck a building at 70 Mulberry Street that housed the historic and artistic items the museum had carefully preserved and protected for 40 years, the museum said.

Museum officials told The New York Times that one hundred percent of the museum's collection, other than what is on view, was stored at the place and all of them could be destroyed.

Edward Cheng, director of external relations at the museum, told Xinhua that the situation is fluid minute by minute but "the outpouring of support from the NYC administration, museums, conservators and the community have been very encouraging."

The museum has set up a web page to receive donations, with more than 33,000 U.S. dollars received in less than 24 hours.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)