The Eiffel Tower has reopened to the public after being evacuated by a bomb alert in the early afternoon. Three floors of the monument and its surroundings were evacuated.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris reopened to the public at 3:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. in Lisbon), after being evacuated this Saturday due to a bomb threat. According to media such as Le Figaro and AFP, three floors of the tower, the restaurant and the patio were evacuated.
The reopening of the French monument to the public was announced by La Sete, the company that manages the Eiffel Tower, and by a police source, BFMTV notes.
Police were at the scene and stressed that the evacuation was done “as a precaution.” The company responsible for operating the monument, Sete, even spoke of a “usual procedure” in situations of this type, although it noted that “they are rare.”
The alert was given around 12:00, 11:00 in Lisbon. By 1:30 p.m. (local time), all visitors to the monument had already been evacuated.
Access to the monument and its surroundings was closed while police operations were carried out, indicates BFMTV.
In X, formerly Twitter, People were asked to avoid the Eiffel Tower area. “It was decided to evacuate the Eiffel Tower and its courtyard due to a bomb threat. The intervention of the team of mines and traps continues. Please avoid the area.”
⚠️ En raison d’une alerte a la bombe, the evacuation of the #Eiffel Tower et de son parvis a été décidée. L’intervention des démineurs est en cours. Veuillez éviter le secteur. #Paris7
— Mairie du 7e Paris (@mairie7) August 12, 2023
The Eiffel Tower received almost 5.9 million visitors in 2022, indicates the Sete website, still below the pre-pandemic figures. Last year, European visitors accounted for almost half of all visitors, with the most significant numbers coming from Italy and Spain, both at around 8%, followed by Germany and the UK at 7%.
(Updated at 15:42)
Source: Observadora
