Our burned lady | During the first hours of …

The image of the cathedral Notre-Dame on fire causes a certain agitation in Paris, where firefighters teams work to extinguish the torches that emerge from this mythical tourist place. The causes of the fire are still unclear, but some officials have indicated that the ongoing renovations in the area could have been causing this concern.

The fire started at the top of the cathedral, said firefighters. According to the spokeswoman for Notre Dame, the fire was reported around 5 pm local time. "Everything is being devoured by the flames, there will be nothing left of the structure, which dates from the 19th century on one side and the XIII on the other," said Andre Finot. .

Notre Dame Cathedral, with around 13 million visitors a year, is the most visited historical monument in Europe. The police cordoned off the area and expelled the many tourists who were inside the cathedral.

One of the most memorable moments was the iconic needle drop, collapsed by the fire. "It has collapsed," said Emmanuel Gregory, deputy mayor of Paris, who lamented the "colossal damage" underway. "A special mission has now been launched to try to save all works of art" and "priority has been given to securing the surroundings in order to protect tourists and neighbors from the risk of collapse", he added.

A few minutes later, President Emmanuel Macron turned to Twitter to give his first public communication on the subject. "Our Lady of Paris in flames, the emotion of a whole nation, thought for all Catholics and for all French, as for all our compatriots, I am sad tonight when I see that this part of us is burned, "he writes.

The president postponed the speech he had planned to make this Monday night about the crisis of "yellow vests", following the "terrible fire". The Presidency has not specified when this intervention will take place.

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