French police investigate Rwandan refugee, 39, after he admitted arson attack on Nantes cathedral
- Rwandan refugee, 39, admitted he was responsible for the cathedral inferno
- Questioned for second time yesterday and confessed to fire early this morning
- Took 104 firefighters to tackle the blaze which started in three places on July 18
French police are investigating a Rwandan refugee after her admitted being responsible for the arson attack on Nantes cathedral.
The 39-year-old man worked as a volunteer warden at the 15th-century Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paint which set alight last week.
Three fires had been started at the site on July 18 and it took 104 firefighters to control the blaze which tore through the building.
A Rwandan refugee has been placed under formal investigation after confessing to an arson attack on Nantes cathedral last week
Fire engines and 104 firefighters worked tirelessly at tackling the blaze in the Catherdral and stayed there to ensure it was completely under control
The Rwandan refugee was questioned for a second time yesterday by prosecutors and he was placed under formal investigation early this morning after confessing to setting fire to the cathedral, French newspaper Le Monde reported.
Prosecutor Pierre Sennès said the 39-year-old man had previously denied any involvement in the fire.
The suspect was not identified. His lawyer, Quentin Chabert, said his client bitterly regretted his acts.
‘My client cooperated,’ Chabert said.
The interior of the cathedral was wrecked by the fire and was covered in debris after the inferno tore through the building
Firefighters were lifted on a crane across the front of the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul in Nantes after the fire tore through the building
The blaze came just over a year after a major fire at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, which destroyed its roof and main spire.
Local fire chief Laurent Ferlay said the fire in Nantes had broken out behind the grand organ, which was completely destroyed.
Stained glassed windows at the front of the cathedral were also blown out but the overall damage was not as bad as initially feared.
‘We are not in a Notre Dame de Paris scenario. The roof has not been touched,’ Ferlay said.
It was not the first time fire has damaged the cathedral.
It was partly destroyed during World War Two in 1944 after Allied bombings. In 1972 a fire completely ravaged its roof. It was finally rebuilt 13 years later with a concrete structure replacing the ancient wooden roof.
‘The fire of 1972 is in our minds, but at this stage the simulation is not comparable,’ Nantes Mayor Johanna Rolland told reporters last week.