A father and daughter posed in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral moments before it erupted into flames in a now-viral photo. After several days, they were found.
Brooke Windsor, who took the photo, tweeted on April 18 that the “search is over,” and the photo “reached the dad and family.”
“He has chosen to remain anonymous in the wake of tragedy,” she said, adding, “Thank you to everyone who has shared the picture and for your kind words.”
Windsor said the father told him: “Thanks again for that beautiful photo, we will find a special place for it.”
Days ago, she 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.”
Windsor tweeted the photo and caption on the day of the devastating fire.
Since her tweet was posted on April 15, it generated 400,000 “likes” and 200,000 retweets.
French investigators still have not gone inside the church and searched the rubble due to safety reasons, the official said.
$1 Billion Raised
Nearly $1 billion has already poured in from ordinary worshippers and businessmen around the world to restore the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, after the French president set a controversial five-year deadline to get the work done, according to The Associated Press.Construction teams brought in a huge crane and a delivery of planks of wood to the site Wednesday morning. Firefighters are still examining damage and shoring up the structure after Monday’s fire collapsed the cathedral’s spire and destroyed the roof.
Presidential cultural heritage envoy Stephane Bern told broadcaster France-Info on Wednesday that 880 million euros ($995 million) has been raised in just a day and a half since the fire. Contributions came from near and far, rich and poor—from Apple and magnates who own L’Oreal, Chanel and Dior, to Catholic parishioners and others from small towns and cities around France and the world.
Pierluigi Pericolo, in charge of restoration and security at the St. Donatian basilica in Nantes, said it could take two to five years just to secure Notre Dame, given its size.
“It’s a fundamental step, and very complex, because it’s difficult to send workers into a monument whose vaulted ceilings are swollen with water,” he said on France-Info. “The end of the fire doesn’t mean the edifice is totally saved. The stone can deteriorate when it is exposed to high temperatures and change its mineral composition and fracture inside.”
