Refugee rearrested over Nantes Cathedral fire after allegedly confessing to French authorities

A church volunteer has been rearrested in connection with a fire that devastated the cathedral in the French city of Nantes after confessing to authorities.

The 39-year-old Rwandan refugee had previously been taken into custody and questioned shortly after the fire due to the fact that he had been in charge of locking up the cathedral on the evening before the blaze that happened in the early hours of July 18.

The man's lawyer, Quentin Chabert, told local media that his client is "consumed with remorse" and said he was "liberated" after admitting the incident.

The man, who has not been named, was released on July 19, but taken into custody again on Saturday and later charged before being put in pre-trial detention.

"He confessed to the allegations against him which, as the prosecutor indicated, are causing destruction and damage by fire," the lawyer told France Info radio.

"He regrets the facts. That is certain. He is in a sort of repentance."

The blaze tore through the cathedral in the northeastern city, destroying stained glass windows and a 400-year-old grand organ inside.

The Nantes public prosecutor, Pierre Sennes, said the man admitted that he lit three fires: on two cathedral organs and an electrical box.

He could now be handed a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of 150,000 euros ($175,000), according to Sennes.

The cathedral's rector, Hubert Champenois, said last week that the volunteer was a Rwandan citizen who came to France as a refugee "a few years ago". He said he had been volunteering as an altar server and had known him for "four or five years".

About 100 firefighters managed to stop the flames from destroying the main structure at the cathedral. French Prime Minister Jean Castex praised their "professionalism, courage and self-control".

Most of the cathedral structure, built between the 15th and 19th centuries, was saved, and authorities are now assessing the reconstruction process "stone by stone".

"Most of the works" were rescued from the fire and are now being stored in the castle of Nantes, said Philippe Charron, head of the heritage department at the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs. But "very few" elements of the organ, "if any at all, will be saved", he added.

The fire comes over a year after a blaze nearly destroyed Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.