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France: Locals sing hymns outside Notre Dame as firefighters continue battling blaze

Tuesday, 16 April 2019 2:18 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 16 April 2019 2:28 AM ]

Bystanders look on as flames and smoke billow from the roof at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris early on April 16, 2019. (AFP)

Locals were overheard singing hymns outside the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris as firefighters continued battling the flames there into Tuesday morning.

The spire and part of the roof collapsed earlier in the evening, after the fire rapidly spread though the cathedral, though firefighters saved the main bell towers and outer walls from collapse before
bringing the blaze under control.

The fire, after burning for about 8 hours, was largely extinguished by 0300 CET on Tuesday. Earlier, in addition to battling to prevent one of the main bell towers from collapsing, firefighters tried to rescue religious relics and priceless artwork.

One firefighter was seriously injured - the only reported casualty.

"The worst has been avoided," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at the scene shortly before midnight.

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.

"We will rebuild it together. It will undoubtedly be part of French destiny and our project for the years to come," a visibly moved Macron said.

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 center of Paris.

Thousands of onlookers lined bridges over the Seine and along its embankments, held at a distance by a police cordon. Some sang liturgical music in harmonies late into the night as they stood vigil, while others recited prayers.

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