JERUSALEM: A part of the structure in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem has caught fire at the same time when a massive fire was ravaging Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral.
According to the media, The fire was put out quickly with no injuries reported. Footage posted on social media showed smoke rising from the top of the Marwani Prayer Room, also known as Solomon’s Stables, as firefighters tried to extinguish the flames on top of the Temple Mount, the third holiest site in Islam that has been at the centre of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict.
حريق داخل المسجد الأقصى !
النيران التهمت غرفة حراس المصلى المرواني بالمسجد . pic.twitter.com/oYEbPLXjiL— منصور أبو عبيدة (@Mansorryaan) 15 April 2019
While the cause of the incident has yet to be determined, Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, director general of the Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, hinted that the fire could have been started by children who were seen playing in the area.
