As a result of a fire at the State Museum of History and Culture of the Fergana region, the door of a patterned mosque, a rifle barrel made by English gunsmiths, and several historical exhibits were completely burned. The amount of material damage is currently being determined.
According to a Kun.uz source, the fire occurred on April 11 at 10:00 in the exhibition hall on the second floor of the museum. The fire situation was kept secret from the public.
In a conversation with a Kun.uz correspondent, the head of the State Museum of History and Culture of the Fergana region, Khayrullo Zokirov, confirmed that there was a fire in the museum. The person in charge said that the fire in the museum building, built and commissioned in 1985, occurred due to a short circuit in old electrical wires.
Only 1 display case burned down in the fire, the door of the patterned mosque and the rifle barrel were completely burned. The display case and the burnt part of the museum were repaired. A work of art depicting the 1916 uprising, painted by the artist Gavrilov in 1938, was partially damaged.
The head of the museum did not allow entry inside, as the situation was being studied by employees of the regional art examination. He added that the amount of material damage is currently being established.
Earlier, it was reported that 70 unique exhibits with a total value of 2.5 billion soums stored in the State Museum of History and Culture of the Fergana region were forged. It was also established that out of 3.1 billion soums allocated from the budget for major repairs of the museum, 1.4 billion soums were embezzled by officials.
