Eiffel Tower cordoned off after bomb threat
23 September 2020, 14:24
Police cars and tape surrounded the streets below the visitor attraction in Paris on Wednesday.
Paris police briefly evacuated the Eiffel Tower and blockaded the surrounding area after a bomb threat was phoned in.
All tourists inside the monument were evacuated after an anonymous caller phoned police on Wednesday morning and said a bomb had been placed inside the tower, according to an official with the tower’s management company.
Police cars and tape had surrounded the streets below the tower and the bridge stretching across the Seine River to Trocadero Plaza.
An officer at the scene said police found no signs of the threatened bomb.
Some tourists were still walking in the area during the police operation, including a group speaking Russian and carrying a bottle of Champagne.
The 131-year-old tower usually gets about 25,000 tourists daily but visits are down this year because of coronavirus travel restrictions.
While the Eiffel Tower is scheduled to be open every day, it occasionally closes because of suicide threats, bomb threats or labour strikes.
