A huge fire appears to have broken out in Paris’ Notre Dame, the world-famous, 850-year-old cathedral.
A Paris fire department spokesperson told Reuters that the area was being cleared and a large-scale operation was underway to address the blaze.
Videos and images of the enormous fire engulfing the medieval Catholic cathedral have flooded social media. In them, enormous plumes of smoke can be seen erupting from the cathedral, with flames leaping up to its bell towers and steeple. Currently, there is no information about any injuries.
Here are a few of the many social media posts documenting the fire.
Construction of Notre Dame began in 1163, according to the cathedral’s website, and was complete about 1250. It is one of Europe’s most-popular tourist attractions drawing about 12 million people a year to its doors.
In recent years, its hundreds of years have caused the cathedral to fall into a state of disrepair, with no clear decision about who would take up the cost for expensive restorations.
This story is developing…
