Notre Dame: confirms that the employees who repaired the roof smoked even though it was forbidden

STRASBOURG.- The authorities of

la France

is still studying the reasons why the
Cathedral of

Our Lady

it continued
fires and today received new information from the company responsible for mounting the scaffolding on the roof
restoration when the
fire: admitted that some employees smoked at work even though it was prohibited.

"Indeed, some employees have violated this ban from time to time and we regret it," said the spokesman of the company, adding that the police were already aware. The statements of the signature came after an article in the satirical weekly
The chained Duck, which indicates that the agents found seven cigarette butts near the scaffolding.

However, the spokesman "ruled out" the fact that a badly extinguished butt had caused the fire that devastated part of the roof of the Gothic cathedral last Monday and that collapsed its iconic needle. "Anyone who has ever tried to light a fire (knows it) does not spend a lot when a cigarette is thrown on an oak trunk," he added, referring to the 1,200 trunks who supported the roof of the cathedral.

"It was forbidden to smoke on scaffolding, but it was a bit difficult to get down because it took time," he explained.

On the trail triggered by the fire-powered electric motors placed elevators to mount the scaffold, the spokesman said that no "problem" had been identified. "In any case, they are far from the needle and, according to what has been established, the fire is declared inside the building," he said. declared. "They are in no way responsible for the fire," he said.

The first signs indicate that the fire was born accidentally, probably by a short circuit, but the experts will have to study all the charred remains in search of tests to determine exactly the causes.

Notre Dame Cathedral is the most visited historical monument in Europe, with 12 to 14 million tourists a year.

The organ, safe

According to a specialist who restored the instrument in 2017, the organ of 8,000 tubes of Notre Dame has not been damaged. Pascal Quoirin examined the organ and determined that it was not affected by the fire that destroyed much of the roof of the temple.

"After spending two hours examining the instrumental part, I did not notice any damage that could have been caused by the fire," said Quoirin.

According to the expert, the thermometer located inside showed that the temperature did not exceed 17 degrees Celsius on the day of the accident, which guaranteed the absence of problems at the component level electronic and tubes.

After reviewing it, Quoirin had recommended protecting the instrument with a waterproof case, cleaning it and touching it regularly during restoration work.

AFP and AP agencies