Two American tourists were found asleep on Monday morning in the famous Parisian monument where they had hidden on Sunday, police sources and the operating company said on Tuesday.
The two intruders were discovered “in the early hours of the morning”, before the Tower opened to the public at 09:00, during the rounds carried out by security guards from the Eiffel Tower operating company (Sete). The tourists were between the second and third floors of the Tower, in an area not accessible to the public.
They “posed no apparent threat”, the Sete stated. Specialist firefighters who deal with incidents in precarious situations went to retrieve them and bring them to safety.
The two men had paid for their entry ticket at around 22:40 on Sunday and broke through the barriers as they descended the stairs, the police source said. They were taken to the police station for questioning and Sete has indicated its intention to lodge a complaint.
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The Eiffel Tower was reopened to the public about an hour late, at around 10:00. This is a further disruption to the reception of tourists after two evacuations on Saturday caused by two false bomb threats. An investigation has been opened by the national centre for combating online hate.
On Monday morning, three Paris police stations received an email again referring to the presence of bombs at the Eiffel Tower, but the Sete, advised by the police, decided not to evacuate the monument.
