A firefighter (right) approaches an unidentified man, who climbed the Eiffel Tower on Monday. Photo: Reuters
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https://scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3011028/eiffel-tower-evacuated-after-climber-spotted-monument Europe
Eiffel Tower climber grabbed after sparking evacuation, six-hour stand-off
- Firefighters rappelled down from third-floor observation deck near the top of landmark to talk man down
- Tower will reopen to visitors as normal on Tuesday
Paris fire brigade specialists attempt to reach an unidentified man (not pictured) climbing the Eiffel Tower on Monday. Photo: Reuters
A climber who sparked an evacuation of the Eiffel Tower on Monday was grabbed after clinging to the famous Paris landmark for more than six hours, officials said.
The man, who was not immediately identified, “is in the hands of the emergency teams” deployed to the tower, which will reopen to visitors as normal early on Tuesday, the company operating the structure said in a statement.
It said firefighters who had rappelled down from the tower’s third-floor observation deck to near the black-clad climber managed to “talk the individual down”.
The man “has been grabbed”, a police official added.
Emergency procedures triggered by the man’s unauthorised climb forced an evacuation of the iconic monument, the esplanade underneath it and a large section of the adjacent Champ de Mars park midafternoon Monday.
The abrupt closure of one of France’s biggest tourist draws frustrated visitors who had been planning to go up the 324-metre (1,063-foot) tower.
“We’re really disappointed, we’re only here for a week and this messes with our whole programme,” said Sylvie and Celine Forcier from Quebec.
Justin and Karen Smith, from Los Angeles, had celebrated their wedding Sunday in front of the tower, but were hoping to get to the top Monday. “We’re disappointed,” he said.
Police earlier said that although they had made contact with the climber, they did not know his motive for climbing up its iron beams.
The tower is regularly the target of rogue free climbers hoping to scale one of the world’s most famous structures, often for bragging rights.
Police evacuate tourists as a man climbs the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Nearly seven million people a year visit the tower, which last week celebrated its 130th anniversary.
The first two floors can be reached by either lift or stairs, but only lifts whisk people to the top observation deck.
That did not stop a French urban free climber, Alain Robert, from making it one of his first targets in his campaign to scale the world’s biggest buildings with no technical climbing gear.
He got to the top – not including the antenna – in the mid-1990s.