Man arrested for climbing Eiffel Tower, area evacuated before Olympics closing ceremony
- The shirtless man was spotted just above the Olympic rings adorning the second section of the Paris monument on Sunday afternoon
![Soldiers patrol a street in front of the Eiffel Tower. On Sunday, a man was arrested after he was seen climbing the Paris landmark. Photo: Reuters](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/12/a52f102f-7af0-4f35-87bb-be7740812296_c1d1beb3.jpg?itok=s7wAuejn&v=1723393680)
The shirtless man was seen scaling the 330-metre (1,083-ft) tall tower in the afternoon. It is unclear where he began his ascent, but he was spotted just above the Olympic rings adorning the second section of the monument, just above the first viewing deck.
Police escorted visitors away from the area around 3pm. Some visitors who were briefly locked on the second floor were allowed to exit around 30 minutes later.
“An individual started climbing the Eiffel Tower at 2:45pm, police intervened and the person was detained,” a Paris police official told Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of a continuing investigation into the incident.
Videos posted on social media showed the bare-chested climber skirting the Olympic rings as he made his way up without ropes. In one, the grinning climber can be heard saying to bystanders “bloody warm, innit?” as he is escorted off the viewing platform by police.
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