French Fire officials informed that the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has been saved from total destruction. A massive fire had ripped through the structure on April 15, 2019 and had caused the roof and main spire to collapse. The fire fighters informed that the blaze burned for about eight hours but has now been largely extinguished.
One of the officials was quoted saying that the two iconic rectangular towers have been saved. This came as a relief after one of the towers had caught fire earlier in the evening. A French Interior Ministry official had earlier said that the firefighters might not be able to save the cathedral. French President, Emmanuel Macron, in a statement outside of the cathedral said, “The worst has been avoided, but the battle isn’t fully won yet”.
The president also expressed his sympathies to the Catholics across the globe, the people of Paris and the people of France. The fire broke out just a few days before Easter. Macron further assured, “We will rebuild the cathedral together” and added that France will start an international fundraising campaign to raise money for the renovations. The president is treating the fire as a national emergency. The residents who were living close to the cathedral were evacuated in case the building collapsed.
Reports say that the area around the cathedral, Paris’ Ile de la Cite was also evacuated. One of the fire officials informed that one fireman was seriously injured and that is the only casualty that is reported so far. The prosecutor’s office in Paris opened an investigation in to the incident soon after the damage began. On April 15, the prosecutors said that their preliminary findings suggested that a huge fire was started accidentally. The firefighters at the scene, attempted their best towards saving the artwork stored at the back of the Notre Dame cathedral that was undergoing renovations.
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