Emmanuel, a volunteer from the diocese of Nantes spent the night of Saturday July 18 to Sunday July 19 in police custody as part of the investigation into the fire in Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral, told Figaro the public prosecutor, Pierre Sennès, who " does not yet know if his police custody will be extended this Sunday afternoon ".
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This man in his thirties, a Rwandan of Catholic faith " was responsible for closing the cathedral Friday evening and the investigators wanted to clarify certain elements of his timetable ," said the prosecutor. Especially since some contradictions could be noted in his words. Investigators are also questioning the man " about the conditions for closing the cathedral, " added the prosecutor.
He was apparently alone to close the doors at 7 p.m. Friday. He was therefore in possession of all the keys. However, we know that no trace of break-in was observed in the building. The magistrate stressed, however, that “ any interpretation which could involve this person in the commission of the facts is premature and hasty . We must remain careful as to the interpretation of this police custody, it is a normal procedure ”, adding that the track of an accident, possibly electrical, is always studied in the same way as the criminal hypothesis.
Arrived from Rwanda a few years ago, the man is followed and accommodated by the Diocese, like other people. He sought to renew his visa and " was in discussion with the Prefecture on this point, " said the prosecutor. " I don't believe for a second that he could have set the cathedral on fire. It is a place he adores , says Jean-Charles Nowak, cathedral clerk. He is a man of duty, very kind, smiling but rather quiet. I know that he has a lot of health problems and that he suffered a lot in Rwanda. He rendered service to Father Champenois who had no one to serve Mass on Saturday evening. He was therefore also regularly serving as a mass . ” Asked by Le Figaro about this man he has always supported a lot, Father Champenois refused "to comment."
Fire experts from the scientific and technical police laboratory in Paris arrived Saturday evening but they are still waiting for the green light from the firefighters to access the platform where the large organ was located, which was destroyed by flames on Saturday morning. " We hope to do it during the day, " said Pierre Sennès. If he opened an investigation for "arson" it was because " three separate points of fire " were noticed by the firefighters when they arrived, around 8 am. " Between the large organ, which is on the facade and the other lights, you have almost two thirds of the cathedral, " he notes. These three starts of fire, which we still do not know if they are concomitant or successive, were all located next to electrical installations. This could also suggest an electrical failure problem.
The fire that touched the Gothic cathedral of Nantes, already ravaged in 1972 by a fire that burned its frame, caused a great stir on Saturday, more than a year after the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris. Prime Minister Jean Castex, accompanied by Gérald Darmanin and Roselyne Bachelot, traveled to Nantes on Saturday afternoon, paying tribute " to the dedication and very great professionalism of the big hundred firefighters who were mobilized from the start who managed it with remarkable efficiency ” .