An Eiffel Tower bomb alert gave tourists a scare as hundreds were evacuated from the French landmark. However it was later found that the alert was a false alarm and the Paris structure was reopened two hours later when police said it was okay.
According to Reuters, police send bomb units to investigate the monument after they received an anonymous phone call tip saying that there was a bomb around the tower at about 2 p.m. An alert was triggered and the building was evacuated but the bomb squad didn't find anything suspicious. Some said the French army was also on the scene. The tower later reopened.
Tourists who were at the top of the tower had to take elevators and about 700 steps to get to the ground when the evacuation was ordered. Those who were dining at the high-priced Verne restaurant on the second floor, about half-way up the tower, had to abandon their meals and also leave.
This evacuation comes as western countries are on high alert since the U.S. State Department issued a global travel warning to Americans last week and closed several of the U.S. embassies as there is a suspected terror threat.
France itself has been on high alert for several months after the French military intervened in Mali. The North African wing of al Qaeda threatened French interests following this event.
The 1,062-foot iron Eiffel Tower was built in 1889. About 7 million visitors come to see the landmark every year and there are as many as 30,000 people per fay in the peak summer season. The tower is regularly threatened with bomb scares but the tower is only evacuated a few times a year. The tower is open almost every day.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
