British Museum partially closed due to sabotage

The British Museum has been partially closed since Friday afternoon following a sabotage of its technical systems, and certain areas remain inaccessible to the public on Saturday morning, according to the museum's website.

A museum spokesperson told that the disruption was caused by a former technical system contractor who had been dismissed last week. The individual reportedly entered the museum without authorization and disabled multiple systems. Police were called to arrest the suspect on-site.

As of Saturday morning, only the permanent galleries on the museum's ground and first floors are open to the public. Other sections, including the Silk Road special exhibition, will stay closed throughout the weekend.

London's Metropolitan Police Service has not yet commented on the incident. The British Museum is the latest cultural institution to experience technical sabotage in the country. In 2023, the British Library suffered a major cyberattack, which resulted in users' personal information being sold on the dark web.