A fire ripped through one of Haiti's oldest churches overnight, officials said Monday, causing the dome of the UNESCO-listed world heritage site to collapse.
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze at the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception church in Milot, in the north of the country, AFP reported.
It caused the 30-meter (100-foot) diameter dome to collapse completely, said Patrick Durandis, director of the Institute for the Protection of National Heritage.
"The fire broke out towards 3:00 am (0700 GMT) in an annex building, according to reports I received from someone at the scene," c.
"We were waiting for firefighters who were there but who unfortunately were not able to intervene for various reasons," he said.
Durandis said Milot had no electricity at the weekend, making the cause of the fire a mystery.
"We cannot blame a short circuit: there will have to be an investigation," he said, noting that the church had been closed anyway because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Haiti's second city of Cap-Haitien, the chapel stands at the entrance...
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