Scaffolding firm says workers smoked at Paris' Notre-Dame
French media outlets are reporting that a disguarded cigarette butt might have started the inferno the destroyed the iconic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
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Well Connyoung, a scaffolding firm that had been working on the roof of Notre Dame has admitted some of its workers had smoked on the site but added that, in no way, a cigarette butt could've caused the blaze.
The company informed the police that its workers smoked sometimes despite a smoking ban on the site.
During the process of the investigation, seven cigarette butts have been found near the origin of the blaze.
The scaffolding company said it was impossible to set a log on fire with a lit cigarette butt and there is no chance the material used in the cathedral could have been burnt from it.
Other possibilities include electric incidents at one of the two elevators on the site and electrical wiring running through the roof of the cathedral.
The Paris prosecutor's office says it's not ruling out any possibilities.
French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to rebuild Notre Dame within 5 years and France's government has presented a bill aimed at speeding up the reconstruction process.
This bill will allow the government to pass emergency orders regarding Notre Dame and skip some ordinary renovation procedures.
Some architects and heritage experts, however, have expressed concerns about the quality of the work that will be done.
The bill will move to parliament for approval in the coming weeks.
For more on this and other news around the world, let's turn to Hong Yoo…
Yoo,... give us the latest.
Well Connyoung, a scaffolding firm that had been working on the roof of Notre Dame has admitted some of its workers had smoked on the site but added that, in no way, a cigarette butt could've caused the blaze.
The company informed the police that its workers smoked sometimes despite a smoking ban on the site.
During the process of the investigation, seven cigarette butts have been found near the origin of the blaze.
The scaffolding company said it was impossible to set a log on fire with a lit cigarette butt and there is no chance the material used in the cathedral could have been burnt from it.
Other possibilities include electric incidents at one of the two elevators on the site and electrical wiring running through the roof of the cathedral.
The Paris prosecutor's office says it's not ruling out any possibilities.
French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to rebuild Notre Dame within 5 years and France's government has presented a bill aimed at speeding up the reconstruction process.
This bill will allow the government to pass emergency orders regarding Notre Dame and skip some ordinary renovation procedures.
Some architects and heritage experts, however, have expressed concerns about the quality of the work that will be done.
The bill will move to parliament for approval in the coming weeks.