No evidence of criminal act in Notre Dame blaze

New inquiry to look at possibility of negligence causing fire

A preliminary investigation into the devasting fire that tore through Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on April 15 has found no evidence of criminal action, and authorities says the blaze was most likely started by accident.

No cause for the fire at the 850-year-old Gothic building has yet been found, but a further probe has been opened into the possibility that it may have caused by negligence, possibly a discarded cigarette or an electrical fault.

"If certain failings, which may explain the scale of the fire, have been brought to light, the investigations carried out to this date have not yet been able to determine the causes of the fire," said a statement from Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz."For now, there are no indications of a criminal origin."

Tourists and television viewers all around the world watched in horror as the iconic landmark of the Paris skyline was engulfed in flames earlier in the year, after a fire broke out on scaffolding around the spire, where the roof was undergoing restoration work.

The spire fell in but remarkably the exterior walls and most of the building's famous stained glass windows survived intact as more than 400 firefighters brought the blaze under control. Many of the cathedral's most precious artefacts were also saved, and there were only a small number of injuries and no fatalities.

Two months after the fire occurred, around 30 people wearing safety clothes and hard hats took part in a mass in one of the cathedral's side chapels, to celebrate its survival and give thanks.

"It is with much emotion that we are here to celebrate the consecration of the cathedral," said Michel Aupetit, the archbishop of Paris who led the service."It is a message of hope and thanks to all those who were moved by what happened to this cathedral."

Notre Dame draws around 13 million visitors each year, and as well as its spiritual significance as a cathedral, is one of the iconic sights of the French capital, playing a role in the city's history and also being the setting for Victor Hugo's classic 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Paris will host the 2024 Olympic Games and French President Emmanuel Macron says he wants the restoration project to be complete by then.

So far, 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion) have been pledged toward the fund to rebuild the cathedral, although the final cost of restoration has not been established, and there has been criticism of how some of France's richest families have found significant amounts of money to donate when some parts of French society are being affected by austerity measures.

Earlier this week, local authorities began the extremely delicate process of removing thousands of pieces of damaged scaffolding left behind following the blaze. That is expected to take up to four months.