Eiffel Tower Evacuated After Bomb Threat

The Eiffel Tower was evacuated on Friday afternoon due to a bomb threat.

The Chicago Tribune reports that hundreds of people were evacuated from the Paris landmark as authorities investigated the threat. The Eiffel Tower was reopened a few hours later.

NDTV reports that a bomb disposal unit was sent to the Eiffel Tower after an anonymous call made a bomb threat. The crew did not find anything suspicious at the tower.

The Eiffel Tower sees more than 7 million visitors every year and nearly 30,000 per day during the summer. The landmark has also frequently been subjected to bomb threats. MSNBC notes that the Paris landmark is regularly the victim of hoaxes but authorities only issue full evacuations a few times a year.

Authorities may have been overly-cautious today due to a global terrorist threat issued by the United States earlier this month. The United States closed several of its embassies fearing a terrorist attack.

The State Department said in a statement: “Current information suggests that Al-Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August… (There is) the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure.”