Interior Minister: according to preliminary line of inquiry, short circuit in organ caused fire in St. Nicholas Cathedral in Kyiv

KYIV. Sept 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – According to a preliminary line of inquiry, a blaze in the organ caused a fire in the St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky has said.

"The preliminary conclusion is that the cause of the fire was a short circuit in the organ, because the fire was during a rehearsal, which was held after 21.00," he told reporters on Saturday near the cathedral. Ukraine24 TV channel broadcasted from the site.

The interior minister said that criminal proceedings were opened for violating fire safety rules. Samples were taken for examination.

In turn, Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko said that "the organ has been destroyed and this is a separate tragedy."

In his Telegram channel, Tkachenko wrote that the Ministry will begin "a detailed assessment of the damage to the Cathedral to compile a list of urgent emergency and restoration work."

As reported, a fire broke out in the Cathedral on Saturday evening. According to the State Emergency Service, at 22.40 the fire was brought under control, at 23.26 it was extinguished. No casualties or injuries are reported. Some 80 people and 16 units of emergency service’s equipment were involved in extinguishing the fire.

The fire damaged the organ and the interior decoration of the Cathedral. The chandelier fell.