‘Blaze looks terrible’, Omar Abdullah tweets as fire ravages Norte-Dame

The fire caused a spire to collapse and raised fears over the future of the nearly millenium old building and its precious artworks.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and the Congress party tweeted their sorrow over the fire that ravaged the Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris on Monday.

Firefighters douse flames and smoke billowing from the roof at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Monday . (AFP)

Omar hoped that the fire could be put before it consumes the entire building.

The Congress party in its tweet said it hoped there were no casualties.

Flames that began in the early evening burst through the roof of the centuries-old cathedral and engulfed the spire, which collapsed, quickly followed by the entire roof.

A huge plume of smoke wafted across the city and ash fell over a large area. Parisians watched on, many of them lost for words.

Firefighters tried to contain the blaze with water hoses and cleared the area around Notre-Dame, which sits on an island in the River Seine and marks the very centre of Paris

(With inputs from Reuters)