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A fire in the cathedral in the French city of Nantes is believed to have been deliberately started, prosecutors say.
Three fires were started at the site and an investigation is underway into an alleged arson, prosecutor Pierre Sennes said.
The fire destroyed the stained glass windows and the large organ of the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral, which dates back to the 15th century.
It comes a year after the devastating fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
But the local fire chief said the fire in Nantes had been contained and “was not a Notre-Dame scene.”
“The damage is concentrated in the organ, which appears to be completely destroyed. The platform it is on is very unstable and is at risk of collapse,” Laurent Ferlay told reporters.
The roof of the cathedral had not been touched by the fire, he said.
President Emmanuel Macron has reacted, tweeting: “After Notre-Dame, the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is on fire. I support firefighters who are taking every risk to save the Gothic jewel.”
The French fire service tweeted images of the fire.
The fire started early in the morning, with huge flames visible from outside the building. More than 100 firefighters controlled it after several hours.
Sennes said the national police would be involved in the investigation and that a fire expert was traveling to Nantes.
“When we get to a place where a fire has started, when you see three separate outbreaks of fire, it is a matter of common sense, an investigation is opened,” he said.
Journalist Jean-Yves Burban said he heard an explosion around 07:30 local time (05:30 GMT) and saw flames when he came out to see what was happening.
“I am shocked because I have been here eight years and I see the cathedral every morning and night. It is our cathedral and I have tears in my eyes,” he told Reuters.
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Reuters
People gathered on the scene
This is not the first fire in the cathedral. It was damaged by Allied bombing raids in 1944, during World War II, and then in 1972 its roof was largely destroyed.
It was rebuilt 13 years later with a concrete structure that replaces the wooden roof.
In 2015, a large fire destroyed part of the 19th-century Saint-Donatien basilica in Nantes.
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Reuters
Firefighters urged people to avoid the area
