Post by Focus on Mar 30, 2013 20:52:12 GMT
Police have evacuated the Eiffel Tower and the park surrounding the Paris landmark after a bomb hoax.
Tourists were evacuated from the Eiffel Tower just before 9pm local time (8pm in the UK).
The company in France that runs the Eiffel Tower received an anonymous phone call saying that there was a bomb planted there at 8.20pm.
Eiffel Tower evacuated
A policeman said that 2,500 people were calmly evacuated from the Tower and were told by police to gather on the banks of the River Seine in central Paris, beyond a security cordon created by the French forces.
Police were using sniffer dogs to check the Tower level-by-level, and an hour after the initial warning the Tower had still not been reopened to the public.
Traffic in the centre of Paris was thrown into chaos as the roads around the Eiffel Tower were shut.
The centre of Paris was thrown into chaos
The cordons were later removed and several dozen Eiffel Tower staff were allowed to enter the structure to collect their belongings.
Nothing was found. It was a false alarm," a police officer at the scene said.
The 324m (1,063ft) iron lattice tower, built in 1889, is one of the world's most popular tourist attractions. Last year it attracted 6.6 million visitors.
Police also evacuated a central Parisian train station at around the same time.
The Saint-Michel train station, not far from Notre Dame Cathedral, was shut for 15 minutes following a bomb threat. The station was reopened at 10.10pm after a police check.
Trial run?? - Fx
