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Police evacuated visitors from Tour Eiffel because of bomb threat

After two hours of search, no bomb was found
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

PARIS, August 9 (Itar-Tass) - French police had to evacuate all staff and tourists from Tour Eiffel on Friday afternoon after receiving a bomb threat from an anonymous phone terrorist.

The local media reports that a call came at 14:30 Paris time (16:30 Moscow time). Police sealed off the tower’s building. All the visitors and employees were taken out and a mine disposal unit got down to work.

After two hours of search, no bomb was found. The police removed the cordons, and Tour Eiffel resumed its normal work. There has been no information so far on who the phone terrorist could be.

Tour Eiffel was opened on the bank of the Seine River in 1889 on the occasion of the World Expo in Paris. It is one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions. More than seven million people visit the tower annually. Entrance tickets allow visitors to elevate to one of the tower’s three floors. Suicide attempts and calls from anonymous phone terrorists occur several times a year.