‘False alarm’ prompts brief Eiffel Tower evacuation; bomb squads search site

Police say tourists allowed back inside hours after three floors of iconic site were cleared out, with police scouting area, including tower’s restaurant

By AFP and ToI Staff 12 August 2023, 5:54 pm

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Republican Security Corps (CRS) officers secure the area in central Paris after a security alert prompted the evacuation of three floors of the Eiffel Tower, on August 12, 2023. (Miguel Medina/AFP)

A security alert Saturday prompted the temporary evacuation of three floors of the Eiffel Tower in central Paris, France’s most emblematic symbol which drew 6.2 million visitors last year.

“It was a false alarm, people can go back inside,” a police source told Reuters a few hours after tourists were cleared from the building.

SETE, the body which runs the site, said bomb disposal experts as well as police scouted the area, including a restaurant located on one of the floors.

“It’s a usual procedure in this kind of situation which, however, is rare,” a spokeswoman said.

Visitors were evacuated from the three floors and the square under the monument shortly after 1:30 p.m. (1130 GMT).

Construction work on the tower began in January 1887 and was finished on March 31, 1889. It received two million visitors during the World’s Fair of 1889.