lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. let's hear the latest from paris.eaguejoins us let's hear the latest from paris. my colleague joins us now. let's hear the latest from paris. my colleaguejoins us now. can let's hear the latest from paris. my colleague joins us now. can you bring us up—to—date with where we are now? you can probably see behind me that notre dame cathedral, that miracle of mediaeval architecture and engineering, the basic structure, the shape of it as we recognise it is still visible against the dark skyline here. you may be able to make out that water is still being poured in. thejob of the firefighters now is to make sure that the fire cannot re—establish itself somewhere in the depths of the building and to bring down the very high temperature of the stone and the woodwork inside. tomorrow comes the work of establishing what caused the fire and the first assessment of how long it will take to repair the damage and how much it will cost. it is worth bearing in mind the nature of these buildings. notre dame took nearly 200 years to bu

one booki read when i was living in paris was "is paris burning?"en the germans realised they were losing a 19114 and this general chose to ignore the orders from berlin and did not get the order to set fire. but traps had been laid at notre—dame and other places. incendiary devices to burn the place to the ground. it survived six years of the second world war and here we are in 2019 with all the technology and our internet connectivity and yet, seemingly powerless to stop a blaze at one of the world's most famous landmarks. a couple of the questions you were raising their that the deputy mayor of paris has been speaking on tv his reports being quoted by some of the news agencies. he said that the spire collapse inwards into the rest of the cathedral and he also quoted and this is to perhaps your point there that their work is —— the workers are scram a right now to save all the artworks that can be saved. i also had a work while you guys were speaking. in terms of what we have not heard about the possibility that any of the tourists who might have

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. kevin connolly is in paris.now you have been reporting for hours and it is now four in the morning. it seems to me a terrible thing has happened in some ways it could have been worse?” thing has happened in some ways it could have been worse? i think that is right. emmanuel macron, when he came down here, he cancelled a speech he was due to give on political life in france came down here and found himself talking about notre dame and the french determination to rebuild this national symbol but also saying that the worst had been avoided. the physical stone structure of notre dame is substantially intact. there is clearly damage, you can even see it in the darkness, but the worst has been avoided. that is not to say something terrible has not happened, it clearly has, but it could have been worse and france will rebuild here. it was a terrible sight to see the spire collapse and the wooden roof going but it seems the stone of the vaulted roof below the wooden roof might have prevented much of the fire reaching th

incredible loss for paris. with paris city hall telling nbc news that the fire is spreading. the cause of the blaze at this point remains unclear. and as we look at this, i want you to look at the spire falling. we know that the paris mayor has urged the public to respect the security perimerter around the cathedral while emergency services are tackling the fire. emanuel macron has confirmed he has canceled his televised speech that was supposed to take place. this is 8:00 p.m. in paris over the last hour. we have seen the situation only get worse. local media has reported that police there are treating the incident as an accident. we know the cathedral was under renovations. anne thompson here with me. i mentioned it earlier, anne. the catholic church in france launched an urgent appeal to raise funds last week specifically because portions of the cathedral which, of course, were built in 1160, to remind our audience of how old this building was. portions of the cathedral were crumbling. >> right and it's been ray renovated over the centuries, added to over the centuries, st

of paris, reduced to burning rubble. for those of you watching on fox television stations across the nation, we'll return you to regular programming. our coverage continues on fox news channel on satellite and cable now. >> shepard: the breaking news. 3:00 on the east coast. noon on the west coast. 8:00 p.m. in paris. the cathedral at notre dame is burning to the ground. the fire began just about, we believe, three-plus hours ago and has raged out of control ever since. we have pictures of the spire collapsing as it did more than an hour ago. largely the cathedral at notre dame is no more. the front of the building, the stone edifice, which is the site of so many pictures and photographs of the more than 30,000 daily visitors still stands. there it is. but the cathedral itself behind it and all of the priceless artifacts that it contained appear to be from the camera's eye largely lost. benjamin hall has been watching with us from our regional newsroom in london. benjamin, the fire brigades arrived more than an hour ago

this is the part of paris that was first settled right dead center of paris. >> we want to go back to sarah harman right now who is in our london bureau. sarah? >> reporter: lester, a church spokesman has told french media all of notre dame's cathedral's frame is burning after the spire collapsed. just to give you an idea of the scale, we're also getting eyewitness reports that the roof has collapsed from people who were on the ground. we know the french president emmanuel macron is on his way to the scene. he's postponed a televised speech to the nation in order to visit notre dame and see the scene for himself. authorities are saying this fire could be linked to renovation work. it's unclear if anyone has been hurt. so far, though, we don't have any reports of casualties, which is pretty incredible when you look at the scale of this blaze. >> yeah. you have to wonder about the construction workers who may have been there at the time. it stays right awfully long this time of year in paris, so we don't know when the construction had knocked off for the day. i think i first heard about

i'm saving paris. and when hitler said is paris burning, the answer was no, so i think there's been so much history from the hunchback of notre dame with charles lawton and maureen o'hara, all the images of our life of this one place, and now i think something will be left. i love what you just reported, that the towers will survive, because when you're luck any of enough to take a retirement retreat up la siene there will at least be the towers and i think that's wonderful they're surviving. >> we have to join all good people hoping we're right about the towers, the ambassador is correct. the bells are so heavy and of course, what are they suspended by? wood timbers. the spire was 100% oak, and we have to hope that the sporadic spot fires we have seen burning in those towers, where paris fire department has been on the spot about trying to get up there and put them down, but still, we have to hope those towers are intact. >> it's certainly what i hope. the french have given us so much. lafayette, of c

paris. this was part of the united states holocaust memorial museum's first person series. it is about an hour. >> good morning and welcome to the united states holocaust memorial museum. my name is bill benson, host of the museum's public program. thank you for joining us. we are in our 20th year in our program. our first person today is mr. albert garih, who you shall meet shortly. first person is made possible by the generosity of the lewis franklin smith foundation, with additional funding from the arlene and daniel fisher foundation. we are grateful for their sponsorship. first person is a series of twice-weekly conversations with survivors of the holocaust who share with us their first-hand accounts of their experience during the holocaust. each of our first-person guests serves as a volunteer at this museum. our program will continue to tell -- until august 8. providesm's website information about each of our upcoming first-person guests. albert will share his first-person account of

out of paris. we've learned that 16 religious statues were actually removed from the peak for the first time in a century because they were being cleaned. therefore, they escaped the fire. the latest information that we have is that emergency responders are trying desperately to remove the artwork and relics out of notre dame to save it from the blaze and from the smoke. right now, we do not have any reports of deaths which is pretty incredible when you think about the scale of this blaze in an urban area. the paris prosecutor has opened an investigation. and a key focus of that investigation is likely to be this ongoing renovation that you mentioned. and the scaffolding that was outside the part of the exterior. right now, based on what we know, it does appear the fire is still burning about two hours after it began. that's the latest we have for you, chris. >> sarah, stay with us if you will, i want to go to liz love who many of you know for coverage outside of rome. liz, we know you've spent qui

the paris can tell mike —— paris commune never touched notre—dame.riking and moving, to hear the strength of emotion people are expressing for this building. friends in paris who have been in touch during this evening and tonight, everyone is united injust being lost for words. it is more than... what has struck me, and obviously i am a french historian and this is a building i love and know well, but what has struck me as there are people all over the world devastated to lose this building. it is not... it is the beating part of paris but it is also one of the wonders of the world. for us to lose thatis wonders of the world. for us to lose that is absolutely tragic. we had very moving footage of people singing outside the cathedral, parisians singing outside the cathedral this evening. regardless of religious beliefs, their background, parisians have a special relationship with notre—dame and with the world. laura, you say as we have a is building him is this what you are assuming is going to happen? —— you say as we have lost this building. too dev

fergal keane, bbc news, paris.wned historian sir simon schama a short time ago, and i asked him what his reaction was to the pictures we were all seeing. well, you know, tragic mutilation, really. i mean, your correspondent was quite right. i mean, it's a huge hole ripped out of a common possession that humanity has, really. what's extraordinary, i think, is this intense instinctive emotional outpouring — people feel about paris and, therefore, one of the great symbols in the middle of paris. we live, after all, in a kind of universe of instagram, of kind of disposable images and short attention span, and something which really has concrete endurance to turn out to be perishable rather than imperishable is kind of a collective shared trauma. that said, of course, actually, there was a terrible fire that occurred in york minster, in 1984. it was rebuilt. its masonry structure was not destroyed, and the more optimistic reports out of paris suggest that an almost miraculous amount of the masonry structure still surviv

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 po

paris fre to carrm lady of paris. and it is a tremendous artistic ss.tating on so many levels. jane: and of course this is happening during holy week. what extra residence does that ad father martin: a sense of great sadness and loss we remember the death and resurrection of jesus, but it also comes at a time of crisis in the church and politil crisis in france. there is this triple resonance with holy week, the crisis in the church, and political crises in france. jane:hat spiritual message can holy week offered -- those things you mentioned, the politica -- what can christians take as any symbol of hope from father martin: the main some help from holy weetiis the resurr, and even in the darkest moments there is a chance of new life. and the always hope, resurrection and message is that nothing is truly impossible with god aev suffering is the last word. jane: there are two relics notre dame, the fragment of the true cross and the crown f how significant are they? father martin: well, they are traditional relics, and we don't know how far back they go.

paris time. so it's possible, given what we know about paris, that construction crews might have already been away by then. but the great news is nobody was injured in this period. what we don't know is how many priceless artifacts have been lost. we don't have a way of knowing that. we don't have a way of knowing what the condition is of the central part of notre dame, the areas where, should you have visited, you would have been taken through. we don't know the condition of those areas. but we do know from french authorities that they were moving in and moving in quickly to try to save some of the priceless masterpieces which were and presumably in some cases are contained within. let's turn to vivian walt, who is a freelance journalist in france now. vivian, what can you tell me about what you've seen and what you know? >> president macron has just arrived on the scene a few minutes ago. there are, as you can see on the screen, finally some serious fire fighting going on. the mystery, really,

we're hearing from the paris prosecutors of this. they're actually speaking, questioning construction workers because there were construction work being done in the area of the fire. the flames spread extremely quickly through the cathedral's wooden infrastructure, that famous wooden roof, the spire of the center of the cathedral collapsed on monday. and the roof was largely destroyed as part of that as well. authorities say the twin bell towers though that make up the building facade are safe. that's the iconic image so many of us are used to. one firefighters was injured which is remarkable there wasn't more. the mayor of paris has tweeted major art ret cots and religious pieces have been saved including the crown of thorns believed to have been worn by gees during his crucifixion. >> translator: as you can see a monument that you love, that you live in, where you celebrate. a monument that represents so much of our history, it's a profound sadness, and i said, oh, god, why? why? because it's holy monday and for us it's an importan

that's why paris is crying today. i worked through rockefeller center and saw many french tourists watching monitors with their mouths open and tears falling. they couldn't believe when they were seeing, neil. >> neil: lauren, you talk about how much money was raised for this renovation. this has been periodic throughout the world when catholic institutions are being refurbished or rebuilt. in this particular case, the moneys were provided up front and completely accounted for early on. much of that coming from this country and no doubt cardinal timothy dolan had a lot to do with that, raising the funds. you have to think about it. some of the old pieces of artwork and the rest have been destroyed. you can rebuild but you can never get back. >> no, you can't get back. not only that, the relics. the parts of the bodies that the church holds dear as part of the faithful. notre dame had quite a few of this them, relics. many talk about the artwork that can't be replaced. we talk about the $200 million to renovate it. but

paris time. an ominous image of smoke billowing from notre dame. >> there's a fire in the background. >> no! >> reporter: then, to the horror of onlookers, the first flames burst through the ceiling. the inferno quickly out of control. the cause unknown, but it engulfed scaffolding from a $6 million renovation project. authorities are investigating whether a construction worker may have accidentally sparked the blaze. crowds of onlookers transfixed, this building has withstood revolutions and two world wars. the history of france written in stone. tonight, a stunned silence. many are in tears. 400 firefighters rushed to the scene, surrounding the cathedral. but at times, powerless against the raging inferno. >> we can see now the hoses and some of that spray on the fire, but it certainly seems to be overwhelming the authorities there on the ground. >> yeah, there's no question. i'll tell you, for me, the most heartbreaking moment was when i saw -- about 20 minutes after i started watching the fir

the shock and devastation in paris.assive fire engulfing the world-famous notre dame cathedral just days before easter. >> here's a live look at what france is waking up to this morning, the iconic gothic cathedral badly damaged but still standing. you can see the scaffolding from the project that was happening when we know a flame sparked and we saw those devastating images. >> while most of the wooden roof is now gone, the church's structure has been saved including its landmark towers. the mayor of paris tweeted this photo showing some of the treasured artifacts and items rescued from the flames. also spared, the crown of thorns believed to be worn by jesus. the fire considered to be accidental, broke out around 6:30 in the evening just after notre dame closed and it raged for nearly five hours. >> now as the inferno spread, some parisians and tourists gathered to sing hymns while others prayed, cried, or just watched helplessly. >> reporter: one of paris' most iconic landmarks up in flames. this is the moment notre

in the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day with what paris and the whole world lost today a massive fire gutted notre dame cathedral this evening the catholic church this medieval monument to french gothic architecture has been a fundamental part of the parisian soul for almost a millennium or tonight it took only an hour for the flames to turn notre dame's wooden frame and its towering spire recognized the world over into a smoldering rubble. a heart rending sight as the spire found striking at a symbol of french culture in the heart of paris. the massive blaze spread on words collapsing the roof and setting the wooden frame of the entire cathedral aflame. the alarm went off shortly before seven in the evening local time no saddam is burning spreading a brown black cloud across the sky her reasons and tourists looked on and heartbreak kept outside the security perimeter by authorities as ash fell in the vicinity. firefighters had a seemingly impossible task they had to work inside the building to save freshness artworks and outside to contain the blaze as

smoke filling the suburbs of paris. there were tourists and pa r' sheens this afternoon, reporting singed hair from the falling, burning embers. look at the smoke from its height. it looked to the amateur observer as a completely out-of-control, unfought fire. what we couldn't see was the scramble going on -- if you've been there you know notre dame is on a small island on the river sienne, and it was indeed hard to get there, lay down supply lines. we assume they are drafting water out of the river and the adjacent canal. this was just moments ago in paris, still pockets of flame inside notre dame. the streets are jammed. the bridges over the sienne are jammed. the metro system has been closed down at some stops because of crowding. obviously there is one topic tonight in paris, obviously there is one site in paris and parisiennes are getting used to the what is left of the orange glow of notre dame. we can say with some certainty that the roof of the structure has all come in. again, you have basically an oven surroun

>>> stunning and sad images coming from paris, france this afternoon. >> an iconic part of the paris skyline. notre dame cathedral completely engulfed in flames. so his is the moment tha many will remember, the main church fire collapsing. nbc news special coverage continues with lester hois. >> this an nbc news special report. here's lester holt. >> good afternoon from new york. we're coming back on the air with the breaking news out of paris where an inferno is breaking at the notre dame cathedral. firefighters are on the sne with the 750-year-old cathedral has been burning for hours. dramatic video capturing the moment when one of the spires collapsed in flames, a drone watching from below. reports also say the roof has collapsed. notre dame has been under a nearly $7 million renovation and initially we saw a lot of flames surrounding the scaffolding. i want to bring in now sarah harmon of our nbc news in our london bureau who has the very latest. in this is a historic day. just mes ago an official from the french interior ministry saying firefighters may not be able to safe notre

i was speaking to one person who said that paris without notre dame is not paris, wolf. >> good point. hadas, i want you to stand by. melissa bell is on the other side of the notre dame cathedral. the crowds near you, we can hear them singing, melissa, and we just heard hadas tell us that maybe there's still some hope for the structure to survive or at least a piece of that structure to survive. what else are you seeing and hearing? >> well, those flames that had been brought under control, but were still really lighting up the center of the cathedral, we could see it through the windows of this front, this facade of notre dame, so famous for this famous facade. we could still see the orange of the fire burning brightly inside. that appears now to have died down somewhat. what we are seeing through those windows now are the flashlights of the firefighters who have clearly managed to make their way inside. and the question will be now that they're inside the structure, whether they manage to get that fire fully under control. we've been told a short while ago that this hour would be ab

our correspondent hugh schofield is in paris.morning from paris, on the quayside of the river, adjacent to the cathedral. we are looking at the blackened remains of notre dame cathedral. i say remains that the point is hope. last night we saw an inferno. i was on the other side of the cathedral and watched as the roof went up in a cauldron of boiling fire and there was a real fear then that we had lost this building. this morning, we woke up and, happily, there is a new mood for have been coming down here to the banks of the river seine because they needed to look for themselves and they have seen and the cathedral are still there. the damage is terrible. it was devastating, but the main part of the building, the gothic gem, notre dame cathedral, has survived. first of all, let's have a look at this piece of video from mark labelle at last nights events. just as tourists were leaving the 855—year—old cathedral, a fire took hold of france's most visited monument. smoke was seen atjust before 7pm, paris time. the blaze intensified.

in paris, and it's a beautiful, warm day in paris. and you are looking at the cathedral of notre dame, aflame, and at this point the damage is catastrophic. there is yellow smoke and gray smoke and in some parts black smoke pouring from the ceiling of this cathedral as a fire engulfs it and continues to burn unabated. you have the fire department that is responding. there are fire boats on the send, but at this point any efforts if they've been able to undertake them, certainly with the structural challenges of this iconic building have been completely un -- ineffective as we are watching this fire burn. you can see i want to bring in jim bitterman. we're getting an especially good view of the scaffolding that you were talking about. so the church has been under construction, and at this point we don't know what the cause of the fire is, but this is an outstanding question if this may have something to do with this catastrophe we're seeing, jim. >> exactly. yes, and it was working going -- work going on. i must say over the last 40 ye

i am joined by our paris correspondent.ll us now of whether the flames are coming under control. i am standing where i have been standing for the last hour and a half looking aghast at the scenes in front of me. the fire is clea rlies past its scenes in front of me. the fire is clearlies past its worse, an hour or so clearlies past its worse, an hour or so ago there were massive flames, a furnace burning on the roof of the building. consuming the whole of the raf culminating in the collapse of the fire now, since then the roof has been completely erased and what was from my view an elevation of roof, above the parapet of the stone wall has gone and the top is parret of the stone wall and as the zie turns to a dark violet, there is an orange glow mixing with the blue, dark blue above the wall of the cathedral, as occasional licks of flame still come up and smoke, but a lighter smoke billows round. there are teams who seem lighter smoke billows round. there are teams who seem to have access with their water cannon more closel

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. kevin connolly is in paris. how is it looking?t is three o'clock in the morning. some of the early intensity of the fire has died away. every so often we catch a glimpse of flames rearing up in one of the windows of the building. they wa nt to of the windows of the building. they want to maintain the core temperature of the building. we can try and show you, on the roof, firefighters are still assessing the state of the roof and the overall structure, but we do have, i suppose, an initial judgement, repeated by ron of france that the worst has been avoided. —— president macron. it probably means some reconstruction is possible but it will be a forbidding task. as far as we can tell the main structure is saved, the interior is relatively untouched. it seems only a small pa rt untouched. it seems only a small part of the vault collapsed but that stone may have prevented much of the fire in the wooden roof reaching the interior? it is a remarkable massive building of immense solidity. it took many years to construct it so there is a

breaking news out of paris. we are getting word what have appears to be a fire that is either near or at the notre dame cathedral. you can see the smoke there in these pictures. we are looking into this. we're going to take you live to the scene next. let's see, aleve is proven better on pain than tylenol extra strength. and last longer with fewer pills. so why am i still thinking about this? i'll take aleve. aleve. proven better on pain. ♪ pardon the interruption but this is big! now at t-mobile buy any samsung galaxy s10 and get a galaxy s10e free! their medicare options...e people go to learn about before they're on medicare. come on in. you're turning 65 soon? yep. and you're retiring at 67? that's the plan! well, you've come to the right place. it's also a great time to learn about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. here's why... medicare part b doesn't pay for everything. only about 80% of your medical costs. this part is up to you... yeah, everyone's

our correspondent there in paris, we can speak to a tourist who is there any paris.english speaking book store 100 metres away, a minute walk at most, all of the streets now have been cleared, 25, 30 minutes ago, it engulfed the roof of the cathedral. at the front of much of them. as i can see it from here, come a few metres away. —— at the front of notre dame. it is heartbreaking watching this fire getting ever closer to the front of the building. the roof itself has started to fall in. you can see where it is exposed. it looks like all of the roof is being consumed, reaching hundreds of feet into the air. i can feel on the windowsill in front of me. the firemen are struggling with the operation. it is a huge national monument come at the same time it is still trying to figure out how to tackle the flames. they only have one firemen on a cherry picker being sent up. a solitary firemen... i think they said they couldn't get close enough to the actual roof. and there seems to be the case from where i was standing. so at the moment, it is frightening and it is taking o

our paris correspondent lucy williamson reports.e president, a part of france that burned today, a part that stood here for 800 years, through war, revolution and religious unrest. engulfed within an hour by flames. its ancient towers, beacons for both residents and tourists, crumbling into the blaze. as its current guardian watched through tears. translation: this is a natural disaster, i'm very upset, this cathedral is 850 years old and to see the building fault pieces, the spire to fall downjust see the building fault pieces, the spire to fall down just as we were renovating it, all i can do is pray. 400 firefighters circled the cathedral to tackle the blaze. their crane stretching to reach its soaring roof, a complicated and fragile operation, simply dousing the medieval structure with water was not — make an option because the building could collapse. to tackle the flames inside the building, firefighters had to climb up the towers. nothing else could reach. the flames are slowly beginning to subside but the damage isjust begin

cathedral in paris.large sections of the cathedral have been destroyed but the french president says the worst has been avoided. hello i'm maryam namazie this is al jazeera live from london will also be bringing you some other stories this hour groups speaking for protesters in sudan push back against what they call the backstage manipulations of former regime. and former leaders and diplomats urged the e.u. to reject the u.s. president's middle east peace plan before it's even been released. we continue our coverage of developments in paris tonight where authorities say work to contain a major fire at the historic not true don cathedral could run into a number of days the building has been devastated by the blaze which started several hours ago about seven pm local time well this is the moment the cathedral spire collapsed firefighters say they have managed to save its two towers and have stopped the blaze from spreading to its northern belfry the twelfth century site is currently undergoing renovation

you never know in paris. generally people thought it was a renovation related and hope that's the case. >> people are confused about amazed and heartened by there weren't more casualties. explain how many busier it would have been. >> tens of thousands of visitors a day. at that time i heard they evacuated quickly. the thing i was concerned about was the firemen. you can see the first responders it was mounting up the towers. on the second level. you can see the helmets and later on in the evening the flashlights. not knowing whether the towers would stand. there was amazing bravery. and of course the cranes that were alongside. >> what went through your mind when you saw the spire collapse? >> my prend saw that. i saw it on video. the smoke we knew that whole wood the forest was burning. there was no way to stop it. there was a strong wind as well. it was a tragic scene. i was watching the towers. >> what was the emotion like? >> next to the common area. a musical venue. people were singing and praying. peop

in paris and that's according to. a reuters witness i mean we speak about rebuilding and reconstruction and saying that the they stand very much it is signed when it comes to that process but when you look at the architecture of this building natasha and just i'm looking at images of the statues and just the intricacies of it this is. you know once it's been destroyed it it's been lost forever very difficult to see how you can really restore a building like this properly. i can only hear. all apologies for that trying to reestablish a connection with his partner it's a very very busy and chaotic scene in paris tonight firefighters fire engines are on the scene we know that they've cleared the area surrounding cathedral and we were hearing from the mayor of paris a little bit earlier saying that asking that people respect the boundaries they respect the roadblocks and allow the firefighters to do that very important for them to have access to the area and mary is at the seed and witnessed the fire on folding and joins

here as a status symbol of paris is. let it cool economic and cultural power an iconic symbol ever since up in flames today and it does look like that work has still a long way to go i just want to tell you a little bit about the number of businesses that do you come here twelve million every year that's incredible that means it is the most visited site in paris more people visit here than the eiffel tower the louve you know some of those other iconic sights him paris people love not many people just come and take a photograph outside a particular on a sunny day looks beautiful and you see the statues carved in the front of that building and of course trying to get a picture of those i can't i conic bell towers sixty nine meters high and they were at one point being licked by the flames of this fire. and just to briefly to what you were saying charlotte we talk about you know why people love you know love a building why i love a building as much as anything else just it's great beauty i mean the religious icons in there

you know how can you turn the burning down off the national symbol of not true in the heart of paris. to to for hope and look to the future and sort of turning turning the fates of people in europe so that is very difficult the messaging that will have to come out of this and at the moment everybody is still sort of occupied was digesting what happened here and the sort of a lot of raw emotion here tonight people watching us in relative silence for hours and sort of people really being sort of gripped by this spectacle and so the future will be we'll see in a few days how. the french media and politicians will sort of deal with that. as we've been saying for the people of france is much more they can see it is part of their identity as a nation take a look for. parts of what we are an essential part of paris is in peril that was the reaction of many in france is the fire took hold they looked on incredulous as the flames engulfed. for the french people not to dom is more than just a cathedral it's the heart of paris a landmark alongside the eiffel tower a magnet for millions of visito

made of that story and how of course it has brought millions of tourists to visit this landmark in paris every year also we'll talk about the hopes for its restoration. for all this on joined by my colleague david levitz who's been following the story and indeed you visited. many times well as have you robyn and if like like you and frankly hundreds of millions of people who probably have visited it today there's this this very mixed feeling on the one hand the sense of devastation at what has been lost but on the other hand an almost euphoric relief at how much of you know it's what was saved from the fire the iconic bell towers survived the fire for instance although. the cathedral central spire which was actually in one thousand nine. hundred not sadly many of the vaults in the cathedral ceiling were destroyed but not all of them thankfully and the three rows windows made out of this amazing stained glass from the thirteenth century have also been saved as has the cross at the center of the building along with many priceless relics including the crown of thorns that catholics believe

as you approach paris so not as people approach paris and there are new sways in the trains in buses in their cars what they will see flames and this great tearing . columns of white and yellow smoke rising over and from one of the coming very fast the ruins of this great cathedral have you been able to confirm john if there were people inside of there been any injuries. there have been injuries on the the head of police mr nunez a presenter they had no injuries and this i think i wanted to look at when silence of the exchange watches where he personally. and. the fine is supposed to have broken out ten to seven this evening is exactly shockley's after the cathedral door was closed the last mass took place in half past six i think sorry six o'clock and i think the the faithful will be out of the jewels just shortly before closing time the last tour is really not it was closed shooting for closing time so if you believe anyone there when the fire broke out you know that is definitely good news in in this tragedy what about any speculation that you've heard about what could have caused

yeah there is some reason for that at least the head of the firefighters of paris. they hope to know that they were able to contain the fire and they could safe the structure of the main structure off the can see through because the fear was that once the fire would if eaten from the roof beams down through to the stone vault that keeps up the inner roof off the cathedral then the forces of gravity and pull would sort of press the the walls of the kids to the side and the whole edifice of huge added fist would just break down in on itself we don't know yet how much damage they can see through us built from sandstone know how much damage this fire the heat has done to the sense stone how much structural problems there might be for the future but so far as we can see in the back even though it's quite dark the main body of the church is still holding out and two three hours ago the flames you could really see them sort of a licking up against the sky and just burning bright red that has now died and firefighters are still working for a huge cranes as throwing very str

our lady of paris. of course, paris is known as the city of love.out for the last year. why did you come here now? we saw yesterday what has happened and we wanted to see notre dame cathedral. yesterday, we saw the beginning of the fire and so i did not think it was notre dame. and after, we justly walked like five minutes and it was already huge. yes, it was very impressive and we followed the fire on the tv, but it isa very followed the fire on the tv, but it is a very special feeling to us parisienne speakers yes, it is part of our hearts, i would say, and we both studied history in university, so both studied history in university, so to us, it is... we will see these pictures in the history books.” think. when you saw the huge ball of fire and you come today and see the stone structure is still there, does that give you some relief, some hope? yes, of course, this is... it shows that even if it has been destroyed, it is still one of the biggest monuments in paris and one of the biggest and most important in france. we are proud to be french tod

in the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day with what paris and the whole world lost today a massive fire gutted notre dame cathedral this e.p. the catholic church this medieval monument to french gothic architecture has been a fundamental part of the parisian soul for almost a millennium or tonight it took only an hour for the flames to turn notre dame's wooden frame and its towering spire recognized the world over into a smoldering relic. a heart rending sight as the spire found striking at a symbol of french culture in the heart of paris. the massive blaze spread on words collapsing the roof and setting the wooden frame of the entire cathedral aflame. the alarm went off shortly before seven in the evening local time no saddam is burning spreading a brown black cloud across the sky her reasons and tourists looked on and heartbreak kept outside the security perimeter by authorities as ash fell in the vicinity. firefighters had a seemingly impossible task they had to work inside the building to save priceless our works and outside to contain the blaze as it

thousands gathered nearby in paris many in shock at the scale of the blaze. the french president will call came to stand by them. we were able to build it more than eight hundred years ago. and over the centuries to make it grow and improve. so i say to you very solemnly this evening this cathedral we will rebuild it all together. and this is probably a part of french destiny a project we will have for the coming years but i am committed to it starting tomorrow a national fund raising campaign will be launched and so i don't see. some four hundred firefighters battle to save the church smain bell towers they also rushed into the flames to try to salvage religious relics and priceless artworks. the fire spread extremely quickly on the roof wooden beams dating from the twelfth century are thought to be to blame. later some measure of good news firefighters announced the church's core structure had been saved. their efforts ordered by those who looked on at the on folding disaster. if you. will do that it's not just catholics but also believers and nonbelievers

there have been quite a few fires around paris. a lot of the older buildings in paris we havave been getting. citity which unfofortunately has a lot of fis often in loloincome houousing ad older structures. i said churches because a lot of those are still built in wood. the roof that collapsed in notre dame was built with thousands of oak trees. the absolutely most flammable product. some people would tell you that if it were not one of france's holy man: i love st. petersburg! thank you. [man singing in russian] [man speaking russian] campbell: he's the man vladimir putin fears most-- a charismatic opposition leader exposing the kremlin''s corruption... and he's gunning for putin's job in the march election. [man speaking russian] [singing continues]

it has towered over paris since the 13th century.e ile de la cite, an island in the middle of the river seine. the fire is believed to have started shortly before 7pm local time, shortly after the structure closed to the public. horrified crowds gathered along the banks of the river to watch their much loved catherdral landmark burn. fergal keane looks now at what notre dame means to france, and its people. in paris, the most desolate of skies, smoke and ruin and history billowing into the air. fire crews from across paris have come here to save whatever they possibly can, and the striking thing, standing among the crowds on the banks of the seine, isjust the silence, the quiet of people stunned by the destruction of notjust a great french cultural artefact but of one that belonged to the world. notre dame de paris offered an image of france that seemed eternal, even if the age of kings and emperors and powerful cardinals past was long past. it was built more than 800 years ago when kings ruled by divine right, and grand and great ca

notre-dame cathedral, and paris is burning. -- in paris is burning. fire is still raging out of control l and officials say they are not sure the blaze can be contained. the delegates buyer at the center of the roof and the roof itself have collapsed into thehe center of the 12 century gothic church. the fire has spread to at least one of the cathehedrals'two gret towers. french president emmanuel macron says the blaze was taking a part of all of france's people with it. inititial reports s suggest the blaze may y be related too renovation work that wasas ununderway at notre d dame. we want to go live now to an eyewitness. he was watching the fire from his balcony a few blocks from the cathedral. hi, this is spread in berlin. can you hear me? >> yes. brent: we appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. what are you seeing right now? >> i see the blaze. it is still burning. there is no end to the fire for now. there doesn't seem to be -- it was like it will be burning for a long time. that's the impression i got. brent: give us an idea, how far aw

barbara faisal in paris thank you barbara. although to dom is of course a landmark which is known and loved around the world and we spoke with people here in berlin for their reaction to last night's. yeah but this was well i'm happy that i was able to see the cathedral and i'm shocked that it has now burned down and that one whole probably not be able to visit it for decades to come because me being french i was very sad to be special for me because my wife is going to paris today and she didn't feel like going in the mall because it's one impact on. which she's in the heart of the french people but that's just these are people that live in the last year that's right well this is of course is a very pretty that happened to that building and heard on the news are trying to rebuild that monument so very pleased that they want to build it. well one would hope that a similar work is done here in germany that care will be taken with historic monuments. something like this doesn't happen here. it's terrible. let's get more now we'r