Eiffel Tower evacuated after bomb alert

Police forces evacuated the Eiffel Tower and the park surrounding the Paris landmark Tuesday after a bomb alert, an AFP journalist said. “The company managing the Eiffel Tower received an anonymous telephone call around 8:20 pm (1820 GMT),” the Paris police told AFP. “Special units, one with sniffer dogs, went to the site to search the Eiffel Tower floor by floor,” police added. A police officer said about 25,000 people were in the area at the time of the alert but added that they left calmly shortly before 9:00 pm (1900 GMT). The people evacuated, mostly French and foreign tourists, were asked to stay on the nearby Seine river banks and the Champ de Mars park to the east, and the tower area was cordoned off.