i have sent a personal note having been there myself. i remarked at the times of the people i was with the most beautiful place. i have been in france certainly the most memorable. and we can see some recorded images here these these are clearly been recorded by bystanders the blaze already at the top of the cathedral there on the spire reports coming in spire has subsequently collapse and of course one of the issues with such a large building of course is extremely difficult to get the firefighters up to certain parts of the blaze i'm sure is playing a part in why it's burning out of control almost it seems at this point in your matter on the french president is anticipated to make an address to the nation surely was to show she the scale of. how this will impact the nation. because tensions. been witnessed across france in recent months of demonstrations

taking place in the capital this will draw people together i'm sure those in lovers of the arts of architecture and of such an iconic national monument lore be feeling the same here. and i mention there is a renovation project taking place at the moment six point eight million dollars worth it's a national treasure the world. heritage treasure because this cathedral dates back . thousands also almost a thousand years twelve sixty the year is actually completed it was a hundred years of construction work on and off. famous can thieves will consider it's an iconic symbol of architecture and religion in france and around the world. no information. yet as to what may have caused this blaze. and these are the latest

pictures and it's a sad sight to see as i said even the u.s. president commenting on this it's a sad sight for anybody appreciates such great architectural beauty and not just the the beauty to look at but if you've been there the ambulance and the musical performances and their response something to behold it is the most visited tourist attraction in france a very good reason and as i'm sure anybody's ever been there will appreciate. no reports of any injuries no reports of any lives lost things could be much worse of course but no one will be really quite seeing the bright side of the moment as they see the national icon go up in flames let's go live to france to correspondent sheila dubin schedule if we've got her on the phone now what more information can you tell us charlotte well standing hay in the center of paris and the area around look to see through has been cordoned off by the police firefighters trying to.

say so i'm looking at the fifty two right now and it looks like the entire central old that procedural has gone up in flames smoke plume in the way of those flames licking up the bells how does the same with bells how old they can see joel not your dog you might know is the most busy that attraction in paris is welcoming million people coming to visit every year it's considered to be one of the most exquisite example to all the french. just it was under way major restoration this is after the french catholic church appealed for the nation last year because the church which is there on day two hundred fifty years old has been crumbling for some time it's not yet clear what actually caused. a big fire but there are all suggestions that a. restoration would be on the go i stopped lou of.

this thing into the sky a prize not actually when i was standing which is about a hundred two hundred feet away from places we can get a moment with that. we cannot. exactly. going it would be. coming down on it but i can see a look at least on front of me. just turning away. read that could have come forward but there. it is why in your situation quite chaotic here on the ground the police are trying to point you get everybody you move away but of course you can imagine the. iconic. people are just you know ming with them but you don't with a camera the media here but you are all just looking at your door trying not to leave conic. going up and playing who very i.

got to tell how big this fall i was and all that you said with no no you know that your. fellow charlotte i just want to check can you still hear me we still got you on the line ok we've lost connection with reporting on the blaze and i think she outlined the situation fairly clearly this is a place that's clearly out of control at the moment we've had reports from officials that the entire building. is ablaze. is. reported to be on route to the scene. i mean michael was actually pretty recording a speech to give regarding the protests that we've witnessed over the last few months in france which was said to be when this fire broke out so he's now clearly

changed his plans for today and is responding to the events as firefighters are trying to contain this fire at the cathedral police diverted traffic from. where the cathedral situated one bridge completely closed to traffic and seeing the traffic heavily restricted as a helicopter hovering over the area. the spokesperson just saying we've had official response a spokesperson for the cathedral said the entire building is burning which might seem obvious but i think that just shows you the extent of this blaze clearly the firefighters are struggling and failing at this point this is been going on for over an hour this blaze and as you can see live pictures here there's no sign that they're having any success in bringing this under control we talked about this in charlotte was mentioning there that this is will be devastating for the people of

france yes some of you might say this is just a building hopefully no injuries but it is such a popular and iconic building and we're hearing reports now that the roof of the cathedral has collapsed the spire has collapsed we saw pictures of it on fire earlier that had been filmed by a member of the public we believe reportedly has now collapsed. one of the most beloved buildings worldwide i would say sort of one of the most famous not to down cathedral the catholic church this will be this will be a painful day for them the most visited tourist attraction in all of france twelve million visitors a year very good reason stunningly beautiful gothic architecture and ambiance that has to be experienced to be understood i think. eight hundred fifty years old and it's really sad to see the way that it's being ravaged by natural forces at the

moment so many visitors will have made their visit to go and go inside. that church today who wanted to go inside the cathedral feel some of the history. having been there myself there was my favorite moment of my entire trip to paris was going you not to down cathedral and it's an opportunity that is pretty clear a lot of people are going to get for a long time to come they were already renovations taking place. and. well let's just hope that the fourth largest can tackle this sometime in the near future that blaze that we're seeing at these are these are recorded pictures ladies pitches that blaze is clearly running wild on the historic. it's to bring you some reaction coming in because all eyes will be on the t.v. watching this blaze around the world when those things that will fortunately draws your attention in it's like

a slow motion disaster donald trump's already commented on twitter so horrible to watch the massive fire and not a damn cathedral in paris perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out he says must act quickly the words on twitter from the u.s. president the french president a minor micron askance at a major policy speech because of the blaze we're expecting him to make public address shortly paris mare and he says that firefighters are trying to contain a quote terrible fire at the city's not a damn cathedral hit alger urged residents of the french capital to stay away a security perimeter for obvious reasons has been set up around the church. and as we've heard reports that the spire which you see there ablaze with heard reports that that spire has collapsed dangers are obvious locally we've not had any reports of any injuries or fatalities and we are hearing that everybody was evacuated successfully from the building hopefully we will not hear in the future any news of

injuries because of what seems like pretty swift action in evacuating the building and getting people to with a distance the damage to the structure though is clearly considerable. says that city officials are in touch with the roman catholic diocese in paris the peak of the church there the spire was undergoing a six million year over innovation project we don't know this point if that is the . possible cause for this place. quoted the paris fire brigade they're saying that the fire is potentially linked to it but as you can say potentially that really doesn't give us anything clear at this point. and those are live pictures of the blaze from a distance hard to see through that smoke. but we but we are hearing reports again that the spire has collapsed because of the blaze i think we might actually be able to see pictures of this these are recorded pitches now and this is what we

heard in the report. the iconic spire of not the drill toppled. by this rampant blaze. and that's a piece of history going down literally in flames five hundred is a trying to tackle this blaze but you can understand why they are struggling and seemingly failing. the piece of history taken down by natural forces in the center of paris. the eight hundred fifty year old iconic gothic architecture cathedral. on its way to being raised. by the fury of nature. a church spokesman has told the french media that all of the cathedral in not today is burning the spires we've seen as collapsed and tries they may firefighters clearly unable to prove

a match for the forces of nature this blaze is running wild not a dam cathedral just to remind you it took the best part of a hundred years to construct this it was completed in twelve sixty. from the beginning of construction is counted as an eight hundred fifty years old it's a piece of history it's a piece of. world famous beauty the architecture gothic it is some of the finest you'll ever see having been as i mentioned myself to paris the great highlight of the trip for me was going inside not a damn cathedral. sense of serenity beautiful architecture and it is the most visited stores attraction in paris or many things to see when you go to the french capital this is the most popular and as i mentioned there are no reports of injuries or worse and that is the great thing which can be grasped from what is

a devastating situation i think for anybody who's ever been to this iconic structure the fact that everybody has managed to be kept at a safe distance that's the silver lining but it's not the last. very upsetting scene for many people watching. something that took so long to build has been around for so long as. adored by so many people. great natural beauty something that brings many people together in their appreciation of it not a time to think it was one of the highlights of global architecture that is being ravaged by natural forces. we're hearing that residents of the french capital have been told by. the america paris i'm here to stay away the fire clearly out of their control of the authorities firefighters on able to bring it to heel it presents and the obvious

fear at this point is that there may be very little to be salvaged. from the cathedral the way things are heading the plumes of smoke billowing into the paris evening sky. ok let's bring you comment now from the french president or told you that the postponed public statement he was going to make about the l a vest protest but he is believed to be changing his plans for the cd now heading to not return we're expecting a public address from him he has commented on twitter. these are his words not. in flames emotion of a whole nation fought for all catholics and for all french like all of our compact treats i am sad tonight to see this part of. according to the palace see many of my cronies going to the site of the blaze

a key speech by the french president of the protest as i mentioned was due to go out this evening that's been delayed now the emotions of the nation being taken into account a carefully worded tweet from emanuel march on there he wants to get his sentiments of supporters out as quickly as possible social media of being the case these days and one sure will see a public address for him from him which is something we'll take a little bit more time to arrange later on this evening price firefighters of course trying to tackle this place but some things just can't be controlled and fire is one of those examples of bridges being completely closed to traffic nearby the authorities are trying to keep people safe the obvious. attraction is for people to flock around we heard from our correspondent so. as close as she could get this close the authorities would lead us saying that people have you know gathered around people be recording on the phones this is

a piece of history going down in flames literally but they are being kept at a safe distance traffic is having to be heavily restricted as a consequence there are helicopters in the area that will be the authorities trying to get some kind of understanding of the extent of the blaze but as we can see here it is obvious to the naked. those are live pictures of the skyline of the french capital we're trying to get back in touch with our correspondent as you can imagine not so easy to get a signal through so many people they will be talking at the moment on the line let's. if we can actually and i believe we can say ok show the disk this is neil harvey in the studio in moscow we've got you back on the line we've got pictures which is good just to bring is a little bit more about what you've heard and seen paris. people just took in need a lot on how such an iconic building can be going up in flames i mean just

take a look around me i'm going to get alex our cameraman to just show you around is see the crowds just people here and it is chaos police are trying to roll it constantly pushing people back is trying to get the traffic in this is for the fire crews this is also for the police crews to come in and everybody filming everybody wanting to see what's happened to watch to see if the firefighters who were in there at the moment in fact you might be able to see some of the water being sprayed into that church just on the side that to see if they can control this fire not too don it's a historic building it's iconic and i really can't underline that it's a building that every tourist who comes to paris wants to come and visit and wants to have a photo with and sometimes to also go inside it is the most visited sport in paris with around twelve million people coming to see it every day and it is just sheer

shock to see something so below something so iconic currently going up in flames it does look like the fire crews seem to be dampening down some of those flames the plumes of smoke that are coming out from the top of the are actually you see if. we saw a little bit earlier when i was just walking towards not to domineer running in fact those plumes of smoke was so high they were billowing through the air and filling parts of paris you could see it from you know. one hundred meters away easily people just saying nor nor they couldn't believe that not saddam could be in fire you might be able to see yes those water cannons do look like they're going into the side of the cathedral and they do look like they are managing to control some of this fire how did it start we don't know yet how much damage will be cause it's

clearly far too early to tell. and as we have you on the line charlotte i just want to ask you your opinion i was just saying to the view is that having been there myself it was the most beautiful most stunning the the the ambience inside the cathedral was just something to behold it was my favorite. tourist attraction of all the places i went to in paris and i'm sure that's the case for millions of people more around the globe i'm assuming you've been there yourself just trying to give us a sense of what it's like inside the building what makes it such a beloved construction. ok i think we where we don't have charlotte's in terms of of sound but we'll continue to get pictures from central paris and it's as i was saying the authorities are holding the crowds at distance and unfortunately this is of course what happens people are flocking to try and get a look at what is going on they know that something's wrong people want to see for

themselves and once the word gets out that it is this iconic construction. people as we heard from charlotte short but they're also fascinated to try and find out more information for you we'll do our best to bring you up to date on and on the collate all the information as it comes in no word as to what caused this blaze at the moment we're just getting official reaction in the can tell you that a spokesman for the cathedral is said that the well is stating the obvious but the entire. drill is a blaze we have already showing you will show you again i'm sure shortly pictures of the spire not of them cathedral toppling. under the ferocious assault from the natural forces and here it is and you see the blaze is well it's absolutely wild at this point and nothing that could be done to stop the iconic spire go down of the eight hundred fifty year old cathedral. it looks from

this angle as though maybe those flames have been dampened down a bit we could see the firefighters that were. pouring some hours ago and of water onto the blaze but not always not always easy to tell that depends on the angle you look from this angle here the smoke is obviously thick but no sign of any flames just the first suggestion that perhaps the firefighters has got on top of this one now we understand that the blaze has been going on for more than an hour hour though and you can imagine the flames of the size that we saw there we should rip down the spire you can just imagine how much damage they must have done running wild for over an hour we did hear from reuters news agency that the roof of not a dam had completely collapsed. and i know micron has responded he's been changing his plans this evening and he has said on twitter not perry these are his words inflames emotion of our whole nation thoughts for all catholics and for all

french like all our compact trysts i am sad to night to see this part of as. the words of the french president emmanuel micron on social media that according to the . is heading to the scene of the disaster now. a crisis room was opened at the monument by the city hall the deputy mayor of paris in charge of security has reported. police say the cause of the fire still unknown president trump spit on twitter as well so horrible to watch the massive fire and not attempt a drill in paris says there are no trouble haps flying water tankers could be used to put it out must act quickly little trump on social media the president has canceled a major policy speech because of this fire. the paris match and he does use his firefighters are doing their best couldn't try and contain this terrible for their

spring in our correspondent in parish we heard from earlier we did have some pictures at the time i think we got her on the phone now because of some technical . to get we actually can bring you pictures from from paris as well as my car getting me to charlotte you were telling us the latest details in addition i just wondered you must have had a chance to go inside. cathedral i was just saying it is quite a thing of. a beauty to behold for anybody who ever witnesses it my favorite comic structure in paris beloved by millions around the world it's world somewhere that once you've been never forget just give us some of your experiences of having been . there yes that's right first came to not true don back in two thousand and three i was a tourist in paris and of course it was the must see thing when you're here and that's just like the other twelve million people who come and visit it every year i

walking inside not to don like you said it's an exquisite building and that climate to the top of the bell towers is pretty horrific sixty nine meters high in fact when not saddam was fully constructed and those two iconic bell towers standing sixty nine meters tall it was in fact the largest construction in paris only taken over when the eiffel tower was completed with construction let's have a look over what's happening now and it does seem as if those flames that fire is being down you can see the firefighters there pouring water in the side there and it does look to be making a difference you can just see some fire flames just licking up slightly towards the back of the structure but much lower than it was when we arrived on scene about an hour ago and that plume of smoke was just filling the air and covering most of here in paris incredible scenes and as you can imagine people here in paris tourists and

parisians alike completely shocked to see this iconic landmark up in flames today just people saying this is so sad in fact so many people here today just in the crowds watching what's going on many people just wondering how they're going to put that fire out and of course many people wondering what that damage could be this iconic be. around eight hundred and fifty years old it has been going restoration of late afternoon by the french catholic church for funds and donations last year because it was said to be crumbling and of course people donated in their teams to that wanting to keep this iconic building here in paris and here it is today in flames with no idea yet what that damage could possibly be. just want to stress at this point the warm positive i want to try to take some positive from this is

that we've heard no reports of any injuries no reports of anything worse it seems like your thoughts were pretty fast to get people out of there this clearly caught people by surprise and has been raging for over an hour at this point so the damage to the structure is considerable but people will still be feeling this is you said not just in france but around the world because it's one of those places isn't it brings people together natural great beauty i mean if you think about some of the religious icons on there they considered priceless works of art and i think because of the atmosphere that could be witnessed inside it and also of course for the catholic church this is a this is a major blow that i'm sure many people in the church will rally around it. it is a major blow and in fact it's with a heavy heart that i'm reporting on this story tonight like you say this is a building that i came to seize back in two thousand and three i was so excited to

come here so many people are excited to see not saddam they want to see the history the building that's been here for hundreds of years in fact when it was built it was built as a symbol to show that paris was not just political and economic but also the cultural capital of france and it is something that is remains iconic ever since i was speaking to one woman when we were just at the police cordon he just said to me sit a tourist she was. it's so sad and that's a feeling that i'm sure many people be echoing as they are watching what's happening but let's just take a look at how that's coming along in fact it does look like the. plume of smoke is getting smaller and smaller does look like the firefighters have been working very hard for the last hour or so the police are also working hard to trying create a cordon that people will not close to that fire mainly of course because when we arrived you could actually feel the paper he was being brought down in the air

we're about one hundred fifty meters away from not to dam and i could actually feel the day from the fire falling on my head so that's the reason that this cordon has been pushed so far back from. that yes it is very thankful it doesn't appear that anybody has been injured in this fire but what is a great tragedy is whatever damage has been caused to this iconic structure in france. and if we may just continue to see pictures and just get some more of your reflections from your time in paris of course you're much of the year around we've seen pictures recorded pictures of the spire collapsing under the. just a huge blaze clearly couldn't couldn't keep standing under that onslaught i'm just reading some of the history here the spire surrounded by statues of the twelve apostles obviously. a monumental day in terms of the

devastation that's being felt by the catholic church the people that you've seen standing around you got a sense of these tourists some of the maybe have just been there today to the cathedral maybe some of them were planning to go or some of these locals of course this will be a really heavy day for them in their hearts. indeed they were not heard english accents around. some people are tourists but there are many french people many parisians here as well who've come to watch this taking place in fact friends have been texting me for the last hour saying i can't believe not saddam is on fire it's so terrible one woman who just had tears in her eyes just saying accomplis this is so sad and this building and you know i'm looking around to me and it seem credible the crowds that have come out to watch what's happening to witness it i'm sure in many years they will say i was there in two thousand and nineteen we're not

damn cool far in terms of some of the damage that's been caused to the church in the past it actually received some damage in one nine hundred forty four when paris was liberated from the nazis and we also know that they was major restoration that took place back in the eighteen hundreds because of the damage that was happening inside the church as i said that restoration work has been going on since that appeal was launched by the french catholic church last year and for actually large parts of the last year much of the truth has been sort of coated in why isn't fencing in scaffolding as they were trying to protect this building to stop it from from blowing away around eight hundred and fifty years old huge history here in paris it's been here for so long it feels like it's the city itself some peoples of north being as i'm saying that because it's just a sense of shock it's almost

a sense of grief to see something this beautiful something that many poor is.