A fire broke out on the compound of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Monday, just as a huge blaze ripped through the Notre Dame cathedral 2000 miles away in Paris.
Smoke and fire was seen billowing from the roof of the Marwani Prayer Hall – also known as Solomon’s Stables, located at the bottom of stairs which lead down from the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque.
‘The fire broke out in the guard’s room outside the roof of the Marwani Prayer Room, and the fire brigade of the Islamic Waqf handled the matter successfully,’ the Palestine News Agency said on Monday.
Videos from social media show the smoke rising from the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa mosque, near where the Marwani Prayer Hall is located
Footage posted on social media shows people gathering in the courtyard of the Marwani room, where Palestinian Muslims hold Friday prayers, emits large plumes of smoke.
The room is located under the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif compound in the Old City part of East Jerusalem.
A venerated site in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike, it houses both the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock – Islam’s third-holiest shrine, built on the site of biblical Jewish temples.
Monday’s fire was contained quickly with no reported injuries or interior damage to the 2000-year-old building.
‘The fire brigade of the Islamic Waqf handled the matter successfully,’ the Palestine News Agency said
No injuries or damage to the 2000-year-old holy worship site was reported after Monday’s fire, which took place at the same time as a devastating blaze ripped through Notre Dame cathedral in Paris
Meanwhile in Paris, the devastating blaze claimed the steeple of the almost 900-year-old Notre Dame cathedral, as well as much of the roof.
Architects and other experts met at the cathedral early this morning ‘to determine if the structure is stable’.
The Palestine News Agency, which is the official outlet of the Palestinian National Authority, quoted President Mahmoud Abbas’ office as expressing: ‘deep regret’ over the incident at the historic landmark.
‘The Presidency confirmed its solidarity and sympathy with our friends in France over this incident,’ it added.
A fire broke out on Monday in the Marwani Prayer Hall – also known as Solomon’s Stables – which is located at the bottom of stairs which lead down from the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem
An aerial view of Jerusalem’s Old City with the Dome of the Rock Mosque (centre) in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount
Officials consider the Notre Dame fire an accident, possibly as a result of restoration work taking place at the global architectural treasure.
The much smaller Marwani Prayer Hall fire was also thought to be an accident.
Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, director general of the Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department said that preliminary information suggests it may have been started by children messing around in the area.
Owing to the the dual claims of both Judaism and Islam, the Temple Mount compound is one of the most hotly contested religious sites in the world and represents the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
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