The Notre - Dame Cathedral is on fire in Paris.
Firefighters in Paris say there is a fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral. https://t.co/HHUXgZE4x1
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) April 15, 2019
Officials in Paris say that it could be linked to renovation work that is currently underway.
Images on social media show plumes of smoke billowing into the air above the 850-year-old Gothic building.
The Catholic Church only launched an appeal to help restore the building which had begun to crumble last year.
Firemen arrived at #NotreDame, police still trying to keep people away pic.twitter.com/74dnz9ZtER
— Olivia Konotey-Ahulu (@OliviaGKA) April 15, 2019
There is currently a major operation is underway to tackle the blaze, which broke out on Monday afternoon, and an area surrounding the building in central Paris has been cleared, officials said.
