The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrsky indicated the alleged cause of the fire in the Church of St. Nicholas in Kyiv.
According to him, the main version at the moment is the ignition of electrical wires inside the wooden case of the organ, which was more than 40 years old, reports LB.ua.
“It (the fire – Ed.) started during a rehearsal on the world-famous organ: smoke came out of it, and then it was engulfed in flames,” Monastyrsky said.
He added that the police are currently considering all possible versions of the fire. "After studying the recordings from internal and external video surveillance cameras, questioning witnesses and examining them, it will be clear what exactly happened,” the minister said.
Monastyrsky said that together with the minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, he inspected the church building. Officials heard a report from the police and rescuers on the causes and consequences of the fire.
The minister noted that employees of the cultural institution did not call rescuers immediately after the fire occurred, trying to put it out on their own. As a result, precious minutes were lost.
"Rescuers responded instantly and were at the scene within 6 minutes after the call. I will say frankly, if not for their professional actions, we would have lost one of the most beautiful architectural monuments in Kyiv – just as Paris lost the ancient cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris,” he stressed.
The Interior Minister noted that there is a lot of work ahead to restore one of the architectural gems of the capital – we will have to build a new organ.
"However, the main thing is that thanks to the quick and professional actions of rescuers, no one was killed, and the structure of the building, according to preliminary conclusions of experts, was not damaged,” Monastyrsky summed up.
On September 3, a fire broke out in the organ hall of the Church of St. Nicholas in the Pechersk District of the capital.