First images have started to emerge of the damage inside the Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris after Monday’s devastating fire.
Authorities said early Tuesday that the fire was now controlled and the iconic bell towers at the front appeared to be safe.
The inferno destroyed the roof of the 850-year-old UNESCO world heritage landmark, whose spectacular Gothic spire collapsed as orange flames and clouds of grey smoke billowed into the sky.
Some of the first people to enter the centuries-old cathedral were heartened, however, to see that some of the well-known vaults had actually survived.
The Holy Crown of Thorns and a sacred tunic worn by 13th-century French king Louis, two irreplaceable artifacts, had been rescued, the cathedral rector Patrick Chauvet said.
– ‘France is Notre Dame’ –
“Notre-Dame survived all the wars, all the bombardments. We never thought it could burn. I feel incredibly sad and empty,” Stephane Seigneurie, a consultant who joined other shocked onlookers in a solemn rendition of “Ave Maria” as they watched the fire from a nearby bridge.
Gasps and cries of “Oh my god” erupted around an hour after the fire first broke out when the top portion of the…
