Eiffel Tower evacuated after threatening phone call

10/13/2013

PARIS -- The Eiffel Tower was completely evacuated today following a threatening phone call, a police official told Reuters.

The 1,062-foot iron tower was evacuated and has not reopened to tourists. The sector around it was fully cleared, the police official said. He could give no further details.

Built in 1889 and one of the world's most recognizable monuments, the Eiffel Tower sees some 7 million visitors each year and up to 30,000 a day in the peak summer season.

It is regularly subject to bomb scares which are usually quickly found to be hoaxes and only cause full evacuations a couple of times a year.