French police sources reported to Reuters that on Saturday (August 12), the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the capital city of France, was evacuated and closed to the public due to a bomb threat as a precautionary measure. However, after approximately two hours, visitors were allowed to reenter the monument.
Around 1:30 pm (local time), visitors were cleared from all three floors of the Eiffel Tower, including the square beneath it, according to a report from AFP. The organization responsible for managing the site, known as SETE, mentioned that bomb disposal experts and police were thoroughly searching the area, including a restaurant located on one of the floors.
A spokesperson for SETE stated to the Paris-based news agency that such procedures are standard in such situations, even though they are rare.
Le Parisien, a French daily newspaper, reported that a significant security perimeter was established, traffic was diverted, and the Eiffel Tower was completely evacuated.
A French police source later informed Reuters that it was a false alarm, allowing people to return inside the tower.
Some tourists, who had gathered in large numbers during the peak summer season to visit the iconic Paris landmark, expressed frustration at the two-hour closure. They had waited in a nearly 100-meter queue at one of the entrances before the threat was determined to be not credible.
The last bomb threat at the Eiffel Tower occurred in September 2020 when an anonymous call prompted a similar evacuation that lasted around two hours.
As France’s most renowned symbol, the Eiffel Tower welcomed 6.2 million visitors the previous year. The monument has a police station at the base of the south pillar, and every visitor is subjected to security checks before being allowed entry.
Construction of the Eiffel Tower commenced in January 1887 and was completed on March 31, 1889.
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