Notre Dame cathedral fire: Paris crowd sings Ave Maria while watching landmark burn

Moving video footage shows crowd of people singing Ave Maria as they look on at Notre Dame cathedral still burning

The haunting sound of soft singing voices can be heard as the Paris cathedral continues to be engulfed in flames in the background.

Distraught Parisians gathered to sing the liturgical song, after the fire broke out at the famed monument in central Paris on Monday.

The first reports of the blaze emerged shortly before 6pm as flames burst through the roof of the building and quickly engulfed the 315ft spire. The blaze moved through the cathedral, ravaging two-thirds of the roof and spreading to one of the two rectangular towers which formed its famous frontage.

Around 400 firefighters battled the inferno and tried to salvage artwork and other priceless pieces stored in the 12th century cathedral.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze, but the structure has been undergoing a huge renovation project, including work on its spire, which can be seen collapsing into a bed of flames in anther devastating video.

To honour "Our Lady", or Notre Dame, The bells of the Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés were heard by residents tolling its bells on Monday evening.

The fire comes less than a week before Easter amid Holy Week commemorations.