French firefighters rush to put out blaze at Rouen cathedral
Al Jazeera
Smoke is no longer rising from the spire of the 12th century cathedral where the blaze first broke out, footage shows.
The spire of a medieval cathedral in the city of Rouen in northern France is mostly clear of smoke after catching ablaze and firefighters rushed in to contain it.
The fire broke out about midday on Thursday in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, which was undergoing renovation, the local prefecture and emergency fire service said.
The Gothic cathedral, one of France’s finest, dates back to the 12th century and was repeatedly painted by Impressionist artist Claude Monet in the 19th century, generating worldwide fame.
Images from France’s BFM television channel released shortly after the fire erupted showed a thick plume of smoke rising from the cathedral’s central spire and people in the streets looking up in horror.
In later footage broadcast by the channel, 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.
