The cathedral in Rouen has been engulfed by flames as footage shows plumes of black smoke filling the sky. The spire of the Notre-Dame de Rouen Cathedral in Normandy caught on fire on Thursday, the fire is now contained.
Emergency services remain at the scene as they work to successfully extinguish the blaze, the Mayor of Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol said: "Start of fire in progress on the spire of the cathedral of @Rouen."
"The origin of the fire is unknown at this stage. All public resources are mobilised. Thank you for facilitating their intervention."
The cathedral spire was undergoing work which involved large scaffolding structures in place. "The construction site is complex because of this height with very large scaffolding structures," Richard Duplat, chief architect from Historic Monuments told Tendance Ouest.
The local prefect - a state official - said the cathedral had been evacuated and emergency services are on the scene.