The French army general designated by Emmanuel Macron to supervise the restoration of the fire-devastated Notre-Dame Cathedral has passed away while hiking in the Pyrénées.

The lifeless body of Jean-Louis Georgelin, 74, the former head of the defense staff, was located by mountain gendarmes after he failed to return to a mountain refuge on Friday.

It is believed that he had a fatal fall on Mount Valier, situated near the Faustin pass in the Ariège region of southeastern France, at an elevation of 2,650 meters, the Guardian reported.

On Saturday, the public prosecutor’s office in Foix officially confirmed the identification of the body and indicated that the demise was being treated as an accidental occurrence.

Macron tweeted on Saturday: “With the death of General Jean-Louis Georgelin, the nation has lost one of its great soldiers, France one of its great servants and Notre-Dame the master manager of its renaissance.”\

Written by staff