Barack Obama has sympathised with the people of France in the wake of the devastating Notre Dame fire.

The fire began on Monday afternoon and quickly spread through the 850-year-old building. Efforts by firefighters to put the fire out had little effect as the fire raged on for hours. There were fears that priceless artefacts and objects of cultural and historic significance have been lost.

The fire has now been “brought under control” and donations are already being made towards rebuilding the historic site.

Sympathizing with the people of France, former US president Barack Obama shared a photo of him and his family in the Notre Dame cathedral, Paris, in 2009 and wrote:

Notre Dame is one of the world’s great treasures, and we’re thinking of the people of France in your time of grief. It’s in our nature to mourn when we see history lost – but it’s also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can.?