WORLD

Nantes Cathedral fire being investigated as suspected arson

19 July, 2020
David Clews

An arson investigation has been launched into a fire that broke out in a cathedral in the western French city of Nantes on Saturday.

The city’s prosecutor Pierre Sennes said:

“We’ve observed this morning that the fire started in three spots. This observation leads us to open an investigation for arson, an investigation to regional judicial police.

“The next phase will be working into the investigation, consultations, we will take a lot of statements. We will also verify the technical installations, the fire prevention installations, and again, we are waiting for this expert who could give us interesting elements.”

Fire Chief Laurent Ferlay told a press briefing in front of the cathedral that the blaze was not as big as the one that engulfed Notre Dame Cathedral in April 2019, and the damage is not as bad.

“I can confirm that we are not in the Notre Dame of Paris situation, rooftop is not affected.”

“The damage is concentrated on the organ, which seems to be completely destroyed. Its platform is very unstable and could collapse,” he said.
Ferlay said 104 firefighters were at the scene, who will remain there “all day.”

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted his “support” of the firefighters who contained the fire on Saturday.

“After Notre-Dame, the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral, in the heart of Nantes, is in flames. Support to our firefighters who take all risks to save this Gothic gem of the city of the Dukes,” Macron wrote.

This comes as a number of Christian churches across France have mysteriously had fires take place as well as attacks on Christian symbols. There are a variety of theories as to what is going on.

 

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