Eiffel Tower shut by a climber 900ft up
A MAN was arrested yesterday after scaling the Eiffel Tower.
Visitors were evacuated and the tower closed as emergency services in Paris were scrambled to the scene.
Police spent around half an hour trying to convince the man, who was in ‘a very dangerous position’ some 900ft up, to come down.
A tower spokesman said at 5pm yesterday: ‘A man in his 40s has been arrested after climbing up the tower.’
He confirmed the landmark had been ‘closed until further notice’ to protect it against other potential security breaches.
Pictures showed rescue workers trying to negotiate with the man, who was hanging underneath the structure’s third platform. His motivation for scaling the 1,000ft tower remained unclear last night.
The landmark, which celebrated its 130th birthday last week, welcomes more than six million visitors annually – but has been beset by strike action and security issues in recent years. The tower is regularly targeted by rogue climbers hoping to scale it for bragging rights. But police have also been called in several times in recent years to thwart suicide attempts. In October 2017, a young man ventured out on to one of the tower’s beams and threatened to jump before police were able to coax him down.