Firefighters are battling a fire in a Gothic cathedral in the western French city of Nantes.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that a City Hall official says the fire broke out Saturday morning in the St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral of Nantes, and the cause is unclear. The official is not authorized to be publicly named.

French television is broadcasting images of black smoke coming out of the main stain glass windows between the two towers of the 15th century cathedral, which also suffered a serious fire in 1972.

The fire is bringing back memories of the devastating blaze in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris last year that destroyed its roof and collapsed its spire and threatened to topple the medieval monument.