April 15, 2019 Photograph: TASS/Barcroft Images
A fire in Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Monday night that destroyed part of the building has been fully extinguished. Experts are now meeting to assess the damage.
Laurent Nuñes, a junior interior minister, said it was not known to what extent the fire had weakened the structure of the Gothic edifice.
“Now the fire danger has been dealt with, there is the issue of the building, and whether the structure has resisted this very serious fire,” Nuñes said. He added that part of the stone vault ceiling had collapsed, but the main structure including the main towers had survived.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who was at the scene of the fire on Monday evening, promised an immediate fundraising campaign would be launched as well as an appeal to international experts to help rebuild Notre Dame.
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