Hundreds of works in the Louvre damaged by flooding

Hundreds of works were damaged at the Louvre in Paris when a pipe burst because of flooding, the museum’s deputy general administrator said.

The flooding last week damaged at least 300 to 400 works in one of the Egyptian antiquities libraries in the museum, Francis Steinbock, the deputy general administrator, told French broadcast station BFM TV.

The flooding led to a burst pipe and affected one of the three rooms of the library in the Egyptian antiquities department, he said.

A complete count of affected works is underway, he said.

Steinbock described some of the works as books — some several hundred years old and dating to the late 19th century. He said that some of the books were wet and that work is underway to dry them, including dehumidifying them page by page with the help of Buffard paper and modifying plants.

Some of the works are visual periodicals and archaeology journals that are consulted by Egyptologists, Louvre staff members and researchers, he said.

He noted that the area of the pipe break is part of museum spaces that will undergo a major renovation of the ventilation and heating system starting in September.

It's the latest setback for the most visited museum in the world, which was the site of a daring jewelry heist nearly two months ago.