Police are still investigating the cause of the fire that broke out at a museum in Lichtenburg in North West. 

On Tuesday, a fire damaged the Lichtenburg town hall and gutted the adjacent Ampie Bosman Cultural Museum. Ditsobotla Municipal spokesperson Pius Batsile said the fire started around 19:00. The cultural museum contained valuable items on the origins of Lichtenburg and surrounding areas.

The town hall in Lichtenburg after the fire, Photo supplied

Ditsobotla Mayor Thabo Nkashe said the equipment destroyed by the fire inside the town hall and museum will take time to replace. “The damage has eroded the town's rich cultural history which was going to be used by generations to come because the museum was the heritage site of the municipality.”

The Ampie Bosman Museum in Lichtenburg was destroyed in the fire. Photo supplied

Batsile said the cause of the fire is still unknown. North West police spokesperson, Adele Myburg, said police received information about the fire from homeless children who ran into a police station near the museum. She told OFM News the fire started from the museum and spread throughout the community hall.

 Lichtenburg Town Hall and Museum cordoned off after the fire. Photo supplied

Myburg said the forensic team only started working at the scene today because the fire was still smoldering yesterday.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi