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Images showing the charred interior of the 15th-century cathedral in Nantes, France, appear to point at three separate outbreaks of flames having damaged the Gothic gem on Saturday. Arson is being investigated.Update 19 July 2020
The diocese of Nantes released images on Facebook in the wake of the blaze. It completely destroyed the grand organ at the Cathedral of St. Pierre and St. Paul, blew out the stained glassed windows at the front of the building, and consumed a valuable 19th-century painting that had been sent from Rome.
Locals quickly spotted that, judging by the photos, there had been two separate fires on the ground floor, located meters away from each other. The third apparently broke out on the upper level.
Nantes Prosecutor Pierre Sennes confirmed there had been three fire hotspots in the building and announced that "an arson investigation has been opened."
The 39-year-old migrant detained following the blaze, according to French reports, worked for the diocese, and was angry over difficulties he had been having with his expired visa — although the authorities have cautioned against leaping to conclusions about his involvement in the fire.It sounds like they're dangling this man as a fall-guy, for now, in order to gaslight the population into privately thinking "I knew it had to be a foreigner," while, of course, it probably wasn't him - though he may have unwittingly allowed the actual perpetrators to sneak in and do their wicked deed.
Prosecutors said it would be "premature and hasty" to brand the migrant, who was apparently responsible for locking the cathedral up the day before the fire, as an arsonist.
It appears he was taken into custody because there are inconsistencies in his timetable — but Nantes public prosecutor Pierre Sennès has stressed that this is "normal procedure" and that, so far, the authorities are not working under the assumption that he started the blaze.
Jean-Charles Nowak, a clerk at the cathedral, has defended the unnamed migrant, saying he "adores" the building.
"I don't believe for a second that he could have set the cathedral on fire," Nowak said.
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