A breathtaking view of illuminated Eiffel Tower at night. PHOTO: FAZAL KHALIQ/EXPRESS
Anti-terrorist police and a helicopter arrived at the scene while an alarm was raised at 9am following reports of a suspicious male carrying a large rucksack up to the building.
“There’s been a report of a man with a rucksack,” said a police source, who assisted with the evacuation of the tower.
“The man was spotted at the French landmark more than an hour before it opened.”
However, the search for the unidentified suspect failed to apprehend him and his whereabouts were still unknown to the police.
Read: Eiffel Tower evacuated after bomb threat
A police cordon was placed around the tower as people were moved to the banks of the nearby River Seine.
This is not the first time the Eiffel Tower has been threatened by terrorist groups. The tower has received threats from terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State and al Qaeda, with security stepped up since attacks by three radical gunmen in the city in January.
Last year, French authorities had foiled a terrorist plot to target the Eiffel tower when the police came across plans after decrypting coded messages between a 29-year-old Algerian butcher living in the southern France and one of the highest-ranking members in al Qaeda.
Read: False alarm: Eiffel Tower reopens to tourists after evacuation
In what is being thought as an alternative explanation, police believe that the suspect might be an extreme parachutist hoping to jump off the building.
“It’s happened in the past,” said the same police source. “The parachutist hides his kit the night before, and then gets into the tower and jumps off, while videoing,” he added.
This article originally appeared on the International Business Times.
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