A man seen climbing up the Eiffel Tower in Paris has prompted mass evacuations near the famous Paris landmark hours before the Olympics closing ceremony on Sunday.
The shirtless man was seen scaling the 1,083-foot-tall tower. It was not immediately clear 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 3 p.m. 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 2:45 p.m., police intervened and the person was detained,” a Paris police official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation into the incident.
French authorities, which are on high alert as the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics is set to kick off around 9 p.m. local time, evacuated the Eiffel Tower. Hours earlier, the athletes in the women’s marathon ran past the Tower.
The famous landmark was a centerpiece of the opening ceremony last month with Canadian superstar Celine Dion serenading the city from one of its viewing areas. The Tower is not expected to be part of the closing ceremony, which will take place at the Stade de France.
More than 30,000 police officers have been deployed around Paris and beyond to watch over the last Olympic events and the closing ceremony on Sunday.
France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said about 3,000 police officers would be mobilized around the Stade de France, and 20,000 police troops and other security personnel in Paris and the Saint-Denis area will be mobilized late into Sunday night to ensure safety on the last day of the Olympics.
