© Philippe Huguen
Photo d’illustration.
A small Russian Orthodox church burned this Sunday in Paris. The interior of the Saint-Séraphin-de-Sarov church, a very small wooden building on rue Lecourbe in the 15th arrondissement of the capital, “was completely destroyed by fire” in the afternoon, without causing any casualties, said the firefighters who went to the scene thanks to three people who gave the alert.
News requires, the question of a possible arson arises. Since the start of Russian invasion in Ukraine, on February 24, several places associated with Russia were targeted by acts of vandalism. The origin of the fire was not known this Sunday evening, said the firefighters who asked the laboratory of the police headquarters to investigate. However, the accidental track remains privileged. According to the first elements of the “faithful would have installed fabrics and lit candles in order to prepare the office then would have left the building”, explains a police source.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin tweeted «[exprimé] all [sa] solidarity with the faithful of the Orthodox Church of Saint-Séraphin-de-Sarov in Paris which was affected by a fire this afternoon”.
I express my full solidarity with the faithful of the Saint-Séraphin-de-Sarov Orthodox Church in Paris, which was affected by a fire this afternoon.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) April 17, 2022
Unlike Catholics, Orthodox do not celebrate Easter on the weekend of April 16 and 17, but on April 23 and 24, according to the Julian calendar. The main places of Russian Orthodox worship in Paris are the Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky cathedral, in the 8th arrondissement, and the Sainte-Trinité cathedral, on the banks of the Seine and close to the Eiffel Tower, in the 7th arrondissement.
Update at 12:10 a.m. with more contextual elements and the announcement of the preferred accident track.
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