Electrical fault may be cause of cathedral fire

PARIS: Police investigators think an electrical shortcircuit most likely caused the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, a police official said yesterday, as France paid a daylong tribute to the firefighters who saved the worldrenowned landmark.

A judicial police official said investigators had made an initial assessment of the cathedral but did not have a green light to search Notre Dame’s charred interior because of ongoing safety hazards.

The cathedral’s fragile walls were being shored up with wooden planks, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak by name about an ongoing investigation.

Investigators so far believe the fire was accidental, and are questioning both cathedral staff and workers who were carrying out renovations. Some 40 people had been questioned by yesterday, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

The police official would not comment on an unsourced report in Le Parisian newspaper that investigators are looking at whether the fire could have been linked to a computer glitch or the temporary elevators used in the renovation work, among other things. The prosecutor’s office said only that ‘‘all leads must be explored’’.

Since the cathedral will be closed to the public for years, the rector of the Catholic parish that worships there has proposed building a temporary structure on the plaza in front of the Gothicera landmark, and City Hall gave its approval yesterday ‘‘subject to technical restraints’’.

A crypt containing vestiges dating from antiquity is located under the vast esplanade.

President Emmanuel Macron has said he wants Notre Dame to be restored in five years, in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics, which Paris is hosting. Restoration specialists have questioned the ambitious timeline, with some saying it could take three times that long to rebuild the 850yearold architectural treasure.

Earlier yesterday, Macron held a ceremony at the Elysee Palace to thank the hundreds of firefighters who battled the fastmoving fire at Notre Dame for nine hours, preventing the structure’s destruction and rescuing many of the important relics held inside.

‘‘We’ve seen before our eyes the right things perfectly organised in a few moments, with responsibility, courage, solidarity and a meticulous organisation‘‘, Macron said.

‘‘The worst has been avoided.’’

The cathedral’s lead roof and its soaring spire were destroyed, but Notre Dame’s iconic bell towers, rose windows, organ and precious artworks were saved.

Macron said the firefighters would receive an Honour Medal for their courage and devotion.

Paris City Hall also held a ceremony in the firefighters’ honour yesterday, with a Bach violin concert, two giant banners strung from the monumental city headquarters and readings from Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Remarkably, noone was killed in the blaze that broke out as the cathedral was in the initial stages of a lengthy restoration.

Yesterday, workers using a crane removed some statues to lessen the weight on the cathedral’s fragile gables, or support walls, to keep them from collapsing since they were no longer supported by the roof and its network of timbers consumed by the inferno.

They also secured the support structure above one of Notre Dame’s rose windows with wooden planks. — AP