US President Donald Trump has chimed in on the fire ravaging the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris), France, suggesting the firefighters can use “flying water tankers” and “act quickly.”
“So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!” the US president tweeted on Monday, minutes before the cathedral’s spire crashed due to fire damage, and parts of the roof caved in.
Indirectly rejecting the US president's advice, French Interior Ministry's civil security bureau responded later in the day that the Paris firefighters are using all means available, "with the exception of Canadair aircraft technically unsuitable for extinguishing this type of fire."
Dropping water from the air might endanger the medieval church's structural integrity, the officials explained.
Fire broke out in the scaffolding on Notre Dame’s roof on Monday afternoon, heavily damaging the 850-year-old Gothic cathedral as it was undergoing restoration. It is the most-visited monument in Paris, ahead of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.
Also on rt.com 'Everything is burning': Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on fire (PHOTO, VIDEO)Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.