PARIS — French police have evacuated the area around the Eiffel Tower after a man was seen climbing the Parisian landmark hours before the Olympic Games closing ceremony on Sunday.
The shirtless man was spotted climbing the 330-metre-high tower in the afternoon. It is unclear where exactly he began his climb, but he was spotted just above the Olympic rings that adorn the second section of the monument, just above the first observation deck.
Police escorted visitors out of the area around 3 p.m. Some visitors who had been briefly locked on the second floor were allowed out about 30 minutes later.
“An individual started climbing the Eiffel Tower at 2:45 p.m., the police intervened and the person was arrested,” a Paris police official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation into the incident.
The Eiffel Tower was the centerpiece of the opening ceremony, with Celine Dion serenading the city from one of its vantage points. The tower is not expected to be part of the closing ceremony, which was scheduled to begin at the Stade de France in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis at 9 p.m.
The incident came as the Olympic competition draws to a close and security services in Paris and beyond focus on the closing ceremony that will conclude the Games.
More than 30,000 police officers were deployed around Paris on Sunday. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that around 3,000 police officers will be deployed around the Stade de France, and that 20,000 police officers and other security personnel in Paris and the Saint-Denis district will be deployed until late Sunday night to ensure security on the final day of the Olympics.
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Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paris-olympics-2024
