Battered but still standing, Notre-Dame still towers over Paris this morning despite the loss of its spire and most of its roof, writes David Chazan for The Telegraph.

Most of the treasured artefacts and works of art have been saved from the interior of the cathedral and the organ, with its 7,800 pipes, is intact.

But concern remains for the iconic building. Franck Riester, the culture minister, said” “Three sections have collapsed and the teams at the scene are worried because above there is charred and waterlogged timber, which is weighing on the structure.”

Michel Aupetit, the Archbishop of Paris, said the majestic 850-year-old cathedral in the heart of Paris “almost collapsed”.

Donations towards its restoration have been flooding in after an appeal launched by President Emmanuel Macron last night.

Bernard Arnault, the owner of France’s LVMH luxury goods group and the country’s richest man, announced a donation of €200 million (£172m), following a reported 100 million euro (£86 million) donation from another French billionaire, Francois Pinault.

The Paris regional authority said it would provide €10 million in emergency aid.

Investigators suspect that the blaze began as a result of renovation work that was going on to save crumbling upper parts of the iconic building, parts of which have been in danger for several years.

Few Parisians appeared angry or willing to ascribe blame, but many say they will back the restoration effort wholeheartedly, even if it takes 10 years to restore one of the jewels of Paris to its former glory. There is a sense of relief that there were no deaths in the colossal blaze and only one firefighter was injured. François Ruffin, who was among those who kept vigil through the night, said: “We’ve got to spend whatever it takes. This is such a vital part of our history. We can’t put up with cut-price restoration work on our historic monuments any longer. It has to stop.”

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, proposed to hold an international donors’ conference to raise the money that will be needed. “Notre-Dame is a place where the soul of Paris resonates,” she tweeted. “The history of our city is linked with that of the cathedral.”

Pope Francis said he felt “close to France” and Michelle Obama, in France to promote her recently published book, tweeted: “My heart aches with the people of France. Yet I know that Notre-Dame will soon awe us again.”