Did cigarette start Notre Dame fire?

WORKERS renovating Notre Dame were smoking at the monument – although there was a strict ban in place.

Contractor Marc Eskenazi yesterday admitted that renovators were smoking on scaffolding around the cathedral’s spire as they said it took too long to reach the ground for a break.

But the firm involved denied an abandoned cigarette butt could have caused the blaze. French investigators have interviewed site workers and other witnesses but are still trying to identify the origin of the April 15 fire.