Notre Dame cathedral ‘still at risk of collapse’ after fire

PARIS, France — Notre Dame cathedral in Paris is still at risk of collapse after being gutted by a fire in April, with more stonework falling during the recent heatwave in the French capital, the government says.

France’s culture ministry insists the urgent need to make the cathedral safe had dictated the pace of the works, following criticism that it had ignored the risks of lead poisoning. Work to secure the cathedral was suspended on July 25 to allow for decontamination of the lead that had spread during the fire. The work should resume next week. Hundreds of tons of lead in the roof and steeple melted during the April 15 blaze that nearly destroyed the gothic masterpiece, with winds spreading the particles well beyond the church’s grounds.

The culture ministry says that in the aftermath of the fire all work on the cathedral had been aimed at avoiding its collapse, and had not yet involved any kind of restoration.

“There were recently new falls of stones from the nave vaults due to the heatwave,” it says. “It is only the urgency linked to the persistent risk of a collapse that justifies the rhythm of work undertaken” since the fire.

President Emmanuel Macron has set an ambitious target of five years for the restoration to be finished. But the ministry said restoration work would not even begin until next year.

— AFP