A look inside fire-ravaged Notre-Dame cathedralSaving France’s Notre-Dame cathedral came down to a crucial time window of 15-30 minutes, France’s deputy interior minister has said.
Laurent Nuñez praised the “courage and determination” of firefighters who “risked their own lives” to salvage the building’s stone structure and its two towers.
According to BBC, the fire ravaged the 850-year-old cathedral’s roof and caused its spire to collapse.
The cause of the blaze is unclear.
“We now know it all came down to 15-30 minutes,” Mr Nuñez said, adding that police and fire services would spend the next 48 hours assessing the security and safety of the structure.
Paris public prosecutor Rémy Heitz said his office was “favouring the theory of an accident”, but had assigned 50 people to investigate the origin of the fire.
Other officials have suggested it could be linked to extensive renovation works taking place at the cathedral.
AFP; The cathedral’s spire, before, during the fire and afterThoughts are now turning to how Notre-Dame will be rebuilt, which restoration experts say could taken between 10 and 15 years.
A number of companies and business tycoons have so far pledged about €700m ($913m; £606m) between them to help with reconstruction efforts, Le Monde newspaper reports.
Offers of help have also poured in from around the globe, with European Council President Donald Tusk calling on EU member states to rally round.
What happened?
The blaze was discovered at 18:43 local time (16:43 GMT) on Monday, and firefighters were called. The flames quickly reached the roof of the cathedral, destroying the wooden interior before toppling the spire.
Fears grew that the cathedral’s famous towers would also be destroyed.
AFP;The whole of the roof was “devastated”, according to the fire serviceBut while a number of fires did begin in the towers, Mr Nuñez said they were successfully stopped before they could spread.
By the early hours of Tuesday, the fire was declared under control, with the Paris fire service saying it was fully extinguished by 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT).
What is the damage?
Search teams had already begun assessing the extent of the damage when dawn broke over the French capital.
The cathedral’s blackened stone and charred scaffolding were revealed to onlookers for the first time.
A tunic King Louis IX is said to have worn when he brought the crown of thorns to Paris was also saved.
Historian Camille Pascal told French broadcaster BFMTV that “invaluable heritage” had been destroyed.
“Happy and unfortunate events for centuries have been marked by the bells of Notre-Dame. We can be only horrified by what we see.”
