The spire of the gothic cathedral of the French city of Rouen in Normandy caught fire during renovation works, the local mayor said.
The cathedral, one of France's finest, was painted several times by impressionist artist Claude Monet in the 19th century.
Television images on BFM channel showed a dark plume of smoke rising from the spire earlier and people in the streets below looking up in horror.In the latest images, smoke could still be seen through a gap in the white cover encircling the scaffolding around the spire but was no longer rising in a dark column.
The scene was reminiscent of the devastating fire at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris in 2019, which also started during renovation works. In April this year, fire ripped through Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange, one of the Danish capital's most historic landmarks, and toppled its spire. Large parts of the outer walls later collapsed.The local prefecture, which exercises state authority in the region, said the cathedral had been evacuated and emergency services were on the scene.Workers who were on-site when the cathedral caught fire are safe, the archbishop for the cathedral said.
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