A father pictured playing innocently with his daughter in front of Notre Dame moments before the roof caught fire has come forward after the snap went viral.
Brooke Windsor, the tourist who took the picture, said the man contacted her via Twitter and thanked her for the ‘beautiful photo’.
The man pledged to ‘find a special place for it’ but asked Brooke to keep him anonymous, a wish that she vowed to respect.
Brooke Windsor took this photo of a father and daughter playing in front of Notre Dame before it caught fire, and say they have now come forward
Brooke revealed that the father described the photo as ‘beautiful’ and pledged to find a special place for it, but wished to remain anonymous
The photo captured the cathedral’s iconic spire around 50 minutes before it was consumed by flames and crashed through the roof
Writing on Twitter on Thursday, Brooke said: ‘The search is over! The photo has reached the dad & family.
‘He has chosen to remain anonymous in the wake of tragedy, and writes: “Thanks again for that beautiful photo, we will find a special place for it.”
‘Thank you to everyone who has shared the picture and for your kind words.’
The hunt for the man and his daughter began on Tuesday, after the fire had been extinguished, when Brooke – who was visiting Paris from Michigan – posted it.
The 23-year-old wrote: ‘I took this photo as we were leaving #NotreDame about an hour before it caught on fire.
‘I almost went up to the dad and asked if he wanted it. Now I wish I had. Twitter if you have any magic, help him find this.’
The was taken was taken at around 5.57pm and the fire started 53 minutes later.
When asked about the photo, Windsor clarified that she did not know for certain what the relationship was between the man and young girl but assumed it was a father-daughter relationship.
She added in a separate tweet: ‘I do not know for sure if it was a dad and daughter, it’s simply the dynamic I observed from them while debating on interrupting this moment. It may be an uncle, brother, friend, who knows until we find them.’
The image was retweeted more than 220,000 times and liked by 468,000 users.
Brooke Windsor appealed on social media to try and track down the man she pictured in front of Notre Dame before it caught fire
Notre Dame cathedral after the inferno was brought under control. The blaze claimed its historic spire and roof, but spared its bell towers
The blaze erupted in the medieval UNESCO world heritage landmark in the French capital on Monday, sending its spire and roof crashing to the ground as flames and clouds of smoke billowed into the sky.
The fire, which at one point threatened the entire edifice, was brought under control early on Tuesday about nine hours after it broke out.
Paris fire commander Jean-Claude Gallet said a major accomplishment of hundreds of firefighters was stopping the flames from spreading to the north tower belfry.
Gallet said two-thirds of Notre Dame’s roofing ‘has been ravaged’.
The fire also brought down the church spire that extended 315-feet high.
Some of the world’s most priceless relics were saved as the inferno rage last night when firefighters formed a human chain inside the fire ravaged building.
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