The images of his silhouette on fire went around the world, sparking a wave of emotion commensurate with the burning symbol. On April 15 and 2019, Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral was in flames, ravaged by a fire whose causes have not yet been identified. Five and a half years after the disaster, the majestic building is preparing to reopen its doors. On December 7 and 8, the event which will be “watched around the world” will be flanked by an “exceptional” security system, according to the Paris police prefect. Laurent Nuñez explained that his services were inspired by the system put in place for the Olympic Games.
Thousands of law enforcement officers will be mobilized for the occasion. The supervision of the Paris Olympics ceremonies will serve as inspiration “both for the management of the ceremonies themselves and for the arrangements for welcoming the public and the regulatory security measures”, assures the prefect in an interview with Parisian. Even if, “geographically speaking, it’s a small part of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games,” he admits. “There was, to my knowledge, no specific threat to the event,” specifies the prefect, before recalling that the reopening is taking place in a context of “very high level of terrorist threat, as during the Olympic Games “.
Several thousand gendarmes, police officers and Sentinel soldiers will be deployed. The BRI (Research and Intervention Brigade) will be in “intervention reserve” and “precision shooters” will carry out “surveillance on high points”, he further details.
-No more than 40,000 people in the area
Around fifty heads of state are expected for the reopening of the cathedral. Only guests will be able to access the square and the building, whose reception capacity is 3,000 people maximum, recalls the police prefect. On the high platforms near the building, an “area will be set up” to accommodate the public. A maximum of 40,000 people will be able to access it.
