Man Arrested After Attempting To Climb Eiffel Tower
A man was caught climbing up the side of the Eiffel Tower on Monday afternoon, prompting an evacuation of the famous structure. The man is under police control, however, his motivation for scaling the famous landmark – which is 324 meters (1,062 feet tall) – remains unclear.
Officials were forced to close the tower and evacuate visitors after the man was first spotted, and the situation lasted a little over seven hours before the climber was captured.
“The Eiffel Tower has been closed and is in the process of being evacuated because a person is scaling it,” a spokeswoman for the landmark said.
Completed in 1889 and designed by Gustave Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower sees about seven million people each year and is considered to be a part of the “Universal Exposition” that marked that anniversary of the French Revolution. In fact, the Eiffel Tower celebrated its 130th anniversary just last week.
(Photo Credit: Michel Euler/Associated Press)
Despite the dangerous height, this is not the first time someone has tried to climb the tower. In 2015, three people were caught scaling the landmark. In 2010, the tower was evacuated due to bomb threats while in 2013, the Eiffel Tower had to close due to security concerns.
To increase security, a protective glass wall measuring 65 millimeters (about 2.5 inches) thick and resistant to bullets was erected around the base of the tower in 2017.
By: Maytinee Kramer
