A very large fire is raging after midnight in a monumental outbuilding of the Sint-Lambertus Church in Veghel in Brabant, the North Brabant Security Region reports. It is not yet known if anyone was in the building. The fire is raging in the congregation chapel, a small building that currently serves as a mosque. According to the security region, that building will “probably burn out completely”, according to the spokesperson.
The fire brigade is present with several vehicles to extinguish the fire, reports a spokesman. “We are present with car ladders and cherry pickers to be able to extinguish from a height.” The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Tankers are also driving around the vicinity of the fire, checking for so-called flying fire due to the strong wind. Small sparks from the fire can cause new fires to start nearby.
The neo-Gothic church, located on the Deken van Miertstraat, was designed by Pierre Cuypers. The outbuilding behind it was also designed by Cuypers. Both buildings are national monuments. Cuypers also designed the building that houses the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and several other churches in the country.
