An Argentine journalist was at Notre Dame when the fire broke out: "The alarm went off en masse"

Lucía Salinas, originally from Argentina, works as a journalist and traveled with a friend to Paris for the first time. Before leaving the French capital, they wanted to meet Notre Dame and, without knowing it, they attended the last Mbad It was in the majestic cathedral before the fire.

"We arrived after 18 and 15 minutes after joining a hundred tourists, the alarms started ringing. They asked us by loudspeaker that, for security reasons, we had to retire, "recalls the dramatic moment in which the fierce fire began.

When the evacuation began, Mbad had already begun. "The priest was interrupted for the message that sounded in the speakers. It was a warning in French and English that was repeated many times, "said the reporter. Clarin a TN which has been impacted by how the silence is broken characteristic of the Parisian icon.

Salinas pointed out that the expulsion had occurred "in no particular order and in a few minutes". Once the faithful and the tourists withdrew from the interior, they remained on the spot "for a long time because in the beginning, the severity of the fire was uncertain and that". there were no big fires ".

"At first we did not really understand what was going on, there was never a panic before the cathedral doors were completely closed," Lucia said of the first moments after the evacuation. .

Police closed access to Notre Dame and uncertainty increased. Therefore, the woman said how tourists reacted: "No other subject is discussed in Paris. The city is full of tourists and the news was shocking. "

Lucie said that since Monday "Notre Dame it will not be the same"To see her for the last time while we meet her is one of the saddest news. The city was crossed by this event, "he searched.

In telling what was most striking about his first – and perhaps last visit – of this historic monument, he said: "What struck me most was the stained glbad, its architecture, its acoustic. The first impression is shocking"

In the fire extinguishing tasks involved 400 firefighters and 18 hoses were used. Macron went to Notre-Dame to follow the work of the specialists and was accompanied by the Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe.

According to what the agency pointed out APThe accident could have been related to the church needle repair project, which cost $ 6.8 million. "The great feat of firefighters was to prevent the fire It extended to the steeple from the north tower, "said Paris Fire Chief Jean-Claude Gallet.