Thursday 01 / August / 2024
Rouen : A fire broke out on the spire of the medieval Notre Dame Cathedral in the French city of Rouen on Thursday, following which the Cathedral was evacuated, reported The New York Times.
The cathedral, Notre-Dame de Rouen, about 70 miles northwest of Paris was later evacuated, and emergency services were at the site, the local officials said on X.
The Rouen cathedral, whose construction began in the 12th century, is considered one of the finest Gothic churches in France.
A tarp covering the spire of a cathedral inspired the French artist Claude Monet.
"All of the public resources have been mobilized," the city's mayor, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, stated on X, adding that the fire's cause was unknown, The New York Times reported.
Caroline Dutarte, a Rouen official, said that only a tarp covering the cathedral's spire had caught fire and that the blaze was under control.
She added that the tarp had been in place around the spire because the cathedral was undergoing renovation work.
"There doesn't seem to be too much damage and, above all, no one was injured," Dutarte said.
Moreover, the blaze in Rouen was a haunting reminder of the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, which almost brought the building to the ground and toppled its 300-foot spire.
The Paris cathedral, which is over 850 years old, is scheduled to reopen in December, according to The New York Times.
