Fire engulfs Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
- 5 years ago
We start with the shocking news out of France...
A huge fire has broken out at the world famous Notre Dame cathedral in the heart of Paris.
For more on this and other news around the world, let's turn to Hong Yoo.
So what do we know about the blaze so far?
Well Mark, as we are speaking there are reports the fire is now weaker and steadily cooling off.
The French secretary to the interior minister said both towers of the Notre Dame cathedral are safe hours after flames were seen spreading to one of Notre Dame's iconic rectangular towers.
Yet, large parts of the roof already appear to have been burned and the spire collapsed during the fire.
At least seven firetrucks and 400 fire fighters are working to put the flames out both from the interior and the exterior.
Police have urged everyone to avoid the area and emergency services are pushing people away from scene.
Parisians and tourists watched in horror the flames spread to other parts of the cathedral.
Witnesses in the scene said ash and ambers were falling from the sky as flames progressed through the cathedral.
The fire is known to have begun at 6:30PM local time and police are saying it probably began accidentally and could be linked to the undergoing restoration work within the 850-year-old building.
The Paris prosecutor's office has started an inquiry.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived at the cathedral after he had tweeted that he was "sad tonight to see this part of us burn" and cancelled a planned speech to the nation scheduled for Monday night.
A huge fire has broken out at the world famous Notre Dame cathedral in the heart of Paris.
For more on this and other news around the world, let's turn to Hong Yoo.
So what do we know about the blaze so far?
Well Mark, as we are speaking there are reports the fire is now weaker and steadily cooling off.
The French secretary to the interior minister said both towers of the Notre Dame cathedral are safe hours after flames were seen spreading to one of Notre Dame's iconic rectangular towers.
Yet, large parts of the roof already appear to have been burned and the spire collapsed during the fire.
At least seven firetrucks and 400 fire fighters are working to put the flames out both from the interior and the exterior.
Police have urged everyone to avoid the area and emergency services are pushing people away from scene.
Parisians and tourists watched in horror the flames spread to other parts of the cathedral.
Witnesses in the scene said ash and ambers were falling from the sky as flames progressed through the cathedral.
The fire is known to have begun at 6:30PM local time and police are saying it probably began accidentally and could be linked to the undergoing restoration work within the 850-year-old building.
The Paris prosecutor's office has started an inquiry.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived at the cathedral after he had tweeted that he was "sad tonight to see this part of us burn" and cancelled a planned speech to the nation scheduled for Monday night.