"Oh, my God"… Some are crying, others are praying: hundreds of tourists and Parisians, stunned, shocked, watch the flames swallow the Notre Dame de Paris. Screams of astonishment and sobs are heard from the sidewalk, when the arrow of the bell tower, of the historical monument, collapses while the fire devours the wooden frame of the Cathedral. Stunned, showing their unbelieving eyes, viewers videotape the tragedy with their mobile phones.
"Paris has been distorted. "This city will never be the same again," said Philip, a 30-year-old man who rushed to the area when a friend alerted him. "It is a tragedy. "If you believe in God, now is the time to pray."
As security forces tried to expand the security perimeter around the iconic building in the heart of Paris, tourists and locals kept coming, flocking to the bridges of the Ile de la Cite. A woman, with tears flowing from her eyes, was trying to find words to express her pain. But no voice came out of her mouth… "It's over, we will never see her again, a place of revelation is collapsing before our eyes. I would like to know why. With what is happening in the world, why did this happen in Notre Dame? "It may be a divine sign," commented a 37-year-old man.
A police officer, right next to him, exclaims: "Oh, my God."
"It's horrible, our history is turning to ashes," said Benoit, who arrived on his bicycle, echoing the general feeling of despair and helplessness. "I'm devastated," said Natalie Cantwalander, a woman who arrived in Paris two days ago for tourism with her husband and their two children.
(Photo: EPA / Julien De Rosa)
Ashes fall on the crowd, while the sirens of patrol cars and fire trucks are heard. Some take photos, others describe from the phone to their friends the yellow and black smoke, the ashes, the despair, the sadness. "He is a thousand years old," a man explains to his 10-year-old daughter.
The rescue of the church is not a given, says the Deputy Minister of Interior
The rescue of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which continues to be destroyed by the giant fire that has been raging since 20:00 Greek time, "is not a given" despite the mobilization of about 400 firefighters, said French Deputy Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. "Firefighters are trying to put out the fire with 18 fire hoses, from outside and inside, to try to save this building, which is not a given at the moment." "As we speak, the fire has not been contained," he said, almost three hours after the fire broke out.
On the orders of the President of the Republic Prokopi Pavlopoulos, the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ambassador George Gennimatas, contacted the Ambassador of France, Christophe Chantepy, and asked him to convey to President Macron his deepest condolences. at the Notre Dame de Paris. "We are deeply saddened by the destruction of Notre Dame de Paris. It is not only a national disaster for France, but also for the European and world cultural heritage. "Emanuel Macron, we are by your side," Alexis Tsipras said in a Twitter post. "All our thoughts and prayers are with the French people tonight," said ND president Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The president of the Movement for Change, Fofi Gennimata, and the head of Potamio, Stavros Theodorakis, also expressed their grief.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said today that he was "shocked by the images of the fire that destroyed the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a unique World Heritage Site, and has dominated Paris since the 14th century". In a tweet, Guterres added that "his thoughts are with the French people and the French government."
UNESCO stands "on France's side for the protection and restoration of this invaluable heritage" of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, said UNESCO Director-General Ondrej Azoule of France. One of the most magnificent architectural monuments of the Gothic style, the Notre Dame de Paris has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. "UNESCO is closely monitoring the situation," Azule said.
The Vatican has expressed "shock" and "sadness" over the fire that burns the Notre Dame de Paris, "a symbol of Christianity in France and around the world". "We express our condolences to the French Catholics and the people of Paris and we pray for the firefighters and all those who make every effort to deal with this dramatic situation," said a Vatican spokesman.
- Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ.