The French police completely evacuated the Eiffel Tower in Paris today, Wednesday, following a bomb warning, and this comes amid fears of attacks after the newspaper "Charlie Hebdo" published cartoons offensive to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
A security source confirmed to Reuters the evacuation of the tower, which is one of the most important tourist attractions in Paris, and the evacuation of hundreds.
The newspaper "Le Parisien" quoted the company exploiting the tower that the police received a phone call at eleven o'clock this morning from a person reporting a bomb that had been planted in the tower.
As a result, the tourist attraction was evacuated from the visitors, and the police began searches for explosives that might have been planted there.
Les abords de la Tour, Eiffel sont bouclés par la police.
Il ya une alerte à la bombe.
La circulation est déviée Quai Branly.
- @BFMParis pic.twitter.com/WZnWytKk0f
- Barthelemy Bolo (@ B2Bolo) September 23, 2020
Arrest
French media reported this morning about the arrest of a person next to the Eiffel Tower, after he shouted "God is great".
The police closed the streets leading to the tower, and established security barriers to prevent the presence of passers-by, and cleared the floors of the tower from visitors until it was confirmed that its surroundings were free of any suspicious materials.
Meanwhile, 100 media outlets in France today published an open letter entitled "Together to Defend Freedom" calling for mobilization in favor of freedom of expression in support of the satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper, following news that it had received new threats from Al-Qaeda organization for publishing again the offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, early this month .
Because of these cartoons, the newspaper was subjected to an armed attack in early 2015, killing 11 of its editorial staff, and the suspects in the attack are currently being tried.