1. Various of the burned out Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday morning

STORYLINE:

The inferno which raged inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Monday evening was brought under control overnight.

As dawn broke in the French capital on Tuesday morning, there was a relative calm at the sight of the 12th Century Gothic cathedral.

A few firefighters remained on the roof, from where only a few puffs of smoke could be seen emerging from the charred shell.

Only in the days ahead will the true extent of the damage from Monday's fire become clear - and the likely cost of restoring the building.

French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to do just that.

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1. Junior French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, firemen and officials talking in front of Notre Dame cathedral

2. SOUNDBITE (French) Laurent Nunez, Junior French Interior Minister:

"The task overnight was to bring the fire under control so it doesn't re-start, and actually there's been a few fire ignitions inside the towers but they have been brought under control by the important presence deployed. The task now is - as the risk of fire has been put aside - is about the building, how the structure will resist after the very serious fire overnight. There will be a meeting here at 8am (0600 GMT) with some experts and architects to determine if the structure is stable and if the firemen can go inside to continue their work. This is the main point now."

3. Nunez and firemen official talking and walking back towards cathedral

STORYLINE;

Junior French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said early on Tuesday that the Notre Dame fire was under control and that the priority now was to check if the structure of the cathedral was stable.

Fire swept across the top of Notre Dame cathedral while the soaring landmark was under renovation on Monday, toppling its spire and threatening one of the world's greatest architectural treasures as locals and tourists watched aghast from the streets.

The French president pledged to rebuild a cathedral that he called "a part of us" and appealed for help to do so.

The 12th-century church is home to relics, stained glass and other incalculable works of art and is a leading tourist attraction, immortalized by Victor Hugo's 1831 novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".

The Paris prosecutor's office said it was treating the fire as an accident, ruling out arson and possible terror-related motives, at least for now.

French media quoted the Paris fire brigade as saying the fire was "potentially linked" to a 6 million-euro (approx. 6.8 million US dollars) renovation project on the spire and its 500 tons of wood and 250 tons of lead.