French President Emmanuel Macron said France would launch a campaign to rebuild the cathedral, including fundraising efforts and by appealing to 'talents' from overseas to contribute.
PARIS - A massive fire consumed Notre-Dame Cathedral on Monday, gutting the roof of the Paris landmark and stunning France and the world, though firefighters saved the main bell towers and outer walls from collapse before bringing the blaze under control.
Macron said France would launch a campaign to rebuild the cathedral, which is considered to be among the finest examples of French Gothic cathedral architecture, including fundraising efforts and by appealing to “talents” from overseas to contribute. Distraught Parisians and stunned tourists gazed in disbelief as the inferno raged at the cathedral, which sits on the Ile de la Cite, an island in the River Seine and marks the very centre of Paris.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said it had launched an inquiry into the fire. Several police sources said they were working on the assumption for now that the fire was accidental. The Vatican said the fire at the “symbol of Christianity in France and in the world” had caused shock and sadness and said it was praying for the firefighters.The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said at the scene that some of many artworks that were in the cathedral had been rescued and were being put in safe storage.
The fire at Notre-Dame has already prompted fundraising appeals in the United States, while in France the billionaire chief executive of Kering, the luxury group behind brands like Gucci, was quoted in a statement to AFP as saying he would pledge 100 million euros to rebuilding efforts.
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