An investigation is underway to determine the origin of the fire in the parish of Saint-Séraphin de Sarov, a small Russian Orthodox church in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.
It was destroyed on Sunday afternoon.
According to the police source contacted by AFP on Sunday, “the accidental thesis is currently preferred”.
The firefighters asked the laboratory of the police headquarters to investigate the origin of the fire.
A police source had indicated on Sunday that "the faithful would have installed fabrics and lit candles in order to prepare the office and then would have left the building".
What the archpriest Nicolas Crnokrak rejects in a press release, this one “is not open outside the offices, and only the members of the parish in charge of maintenance have access to it”.
The rector continues: “The candles are lit a few minutes before the start of an office, but the fire broke out around 4:00 p.m., about two hours before the scheduled office.
It is therefore impossible that candles could have been left lit and unattended in the church.
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A church “filled with carpets and various fabrics”
"Finally, none of the members of the parish present at the time the fire was detected told the police that they had lit a candle", he continues, "if a candle was lit, which seems very unlikely according to the testimonies of those present, this can in no way have been authorized by the parish”.
The archpriest concedes: “The church, like most Orthodox places of worship”, is however “filled with carpets and various fabrics which are part of the liturgical ornaments.
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