The Eiffel Tower and its forecourt had to be evacuated this Monday 20th May because of a person trying to climb the monument.
An individual was observed climbing the Eiffel Tower this Monday 20th May in the afternoon, which resulted in its evacuation.
“A climber has been detected , explains the company operating the Eiffel Tower, this is the usual procedure. It must be prevented from continuing, and in this case, we evacuate the Tower, “ detailed this source, without being able to specify the number of tourists concerned by the evacuation.
The climber’s motives still unknown
“Firefighters and police are on site,” she added. The forecourt was also evacuated, a police source said.
The search and police intervention brigade is on site and has made contact with the climber, whose motives remain unknown, according to this source.
On the spot, one could see a black form moving almost at the top of the monument, at the level of the last platform, found a journalist of the AFP.
Shortly before 5.30 pm, firefighters were trying to reach the climber abseiling from the 3rd floor. At the foot of the Eiffel Tower, while half of the Champ-de-Mars was evacuated, a few hundred tourists raised their nose to the sky, in an attempt to see the man who climbs, some zooming in with their photo devices.
The Eiffel Tower evacuated in 2017 for a suicide attempt
In October 2017, the Eiffel Tower had to be “completely evacuated” because of “the presence of a young man on a pillar of the Tower who was threatening to commit suicide” . The police finally managed to get the young man to give up. The Eiffel Tower, which celebrates its 130th birthday this year , is the most visited paying monument in the world, with seven million visitors a year.
