A 160-year-old Orthodox
Christian cathedral in New York
has been completely destroyed
after a huge fire tore through it on
Sunday. The blaze broke out at the
Serbian Cathedral of Saint Sava
on 25th Street in Manhattan's
Flatiron district at around 7pm. It is not known how the fire
started, though it is believed to
have broken out on the first floor
of the
building before consuming the
interior and roof. An FDNY spokesman said that
nobody was believed to be inside
the building at the time the fire
started, and there have been no
reports of injuries. Fire officials
said the church's caretaker ran inside the church to try to put out
the blaze but suffered minor
smoke inhalation and had to be
rescued. 'I feel like I'm in a
nightmare right now,' said
church priest, Father
Djokan Majstorovic as he
tried to get to the fire scene
that was blocked off by firefighters. Alex Velic, 31, the caretaker's
stepson, told the Daily News he
lives next door. He said he
smelled smoke and came outside
and saw the church on fire. 'Once the fire caught the
wood there was flames
coming out of the top of the
church. That's when
people were going crazy,'
Velic said. "I'm in shock. I don't know what to say. It's
sad.' See interior of the cathedral before the fire and the ruins left
behind after the inferno. What a
terrible loss!
